The Rose and the Sunflower
by siltrana
Summary: How did McGee get on to a ledge and what is he doing there?
1. Prolog

**The Rose and the Sunflower**

**Prologue**

**Thank you Dumbledor's Emeral****d Phoenix for Betaing for me. **

**I do not own NCIS or have any thing to do with it.**

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The scene before Tim reminded him of one that happened years ago. It was back before he was an agent-in-charge, when he was still a member of Team Gibbs. The young Marine was standing out on a ledge. Experience had helped him overcome his fear of heights; well that, and his pride refused to allowed him to show his old fear to his own team. He would never be comfortable with heights, but he could work through it. He needed to. For times like now, as he slowly edged his way out to the man.

"What's your name marine?" McGee asked. "Mine's Tim."

"John Davis, sir," the man whispered.

"Well, John, would you like to tell me what we're doing out here?" Tim wanted to know.

"You wouldn't understand," he told McGee, turning his head away for a moment. That moment gave a possible reason for what was going on inside the man's head.

"Try me; you would be surprised by what I could understand."

"You're lying," he paused, "nobody can understand what I'm going through."

"I think I do, John. It starts out so innocent. You feel under the weather. You keep telling your self it's nothing, but whatever it is just keeps getting worse, so finely you go see a doctor. He runs a few test a few x-rays and the like. Then all of a sudden you're in the hospital and people are running CT and PET scans on you," was Tim's reply.

"How could you know that?" Davis gasped. "I haven't told anyone yet."

"I saw the mark on your neck. I know what dye is used to light up cancer cells in the body. I had the same crap injected into me when I had my CT and PET done," he answered.

"You don't look sick, sir, how you could have cancer?" Davis asked.

"I got better when after treatment," this seemed to calm the Marine down a bit, "What cancer do you have?"

"Thymic blastioma…and you, sir? What did you have?"

"Thymic carcinoma."

"That's the worst of the two," Davis said, surprised.

"You're telling me," Tim said wryly, "It seemed like I got all the complications I could get, with this cancer, but I survived."

"Tell me about, sir," the young man had seemed hearten by the news that Tim had recovered and survived.

"Sure," he replied.

McGee learned long ago sharing the burden with someone lessened it. Even his team had leaned in to hear his story. They had always griped that they didn't know a lot about their enigmatic boss, but now it would seem they were going to learn something huge.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**At long last, here it is Chapter One. Thank you everyone for the Fav. story alerts. It is very heartening. I hope you like it.**

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It was almost noon on Monday, before McGee finely drove into the Navy Yard. He knew that Gibbs was probably in a total snit by now, but given the news that he had just received, it didn't seem to matter symptoms had started out as a dry cough, which had stuck around. It seemed so innocent, but he couldn't get rid of it. The cough syrups and allergy medications just didn't seem to work. He had even gone to his family doctor several times. Nothing was helping and it was frustrating him. The thing that had finely sent him to the emergency room, had been the chest pains, and shortness of breath. He had to head home to drop some stuff off, and was about to leave so he could meet his team at the bar, when the symptoms had started. Stubbornly, he grabbed the car keys to drive himself to the hospital, but when the breathing troubles started, he gave in and called an ambulance.

Laying in the hospital bed, McGee tried not to think about the test that the nurses were performing on him. The worst moment of his stay, was when the Oncologist walked in. His heart seemed to be fine, but there were shadows in the x-rays. The man wanted to run more in-depth tests and as he felt the needle slid into his neck so the dye could be injected, Tim had choked back tears. He started crying when he tried calling Abby. She was mad that he had bailed on their night out, and hung up on him. Feeling alone, it did not occur to him to call anyone else. That brought him to this morning: The doctor had called just before he left the apartment. The weekend had been hellish as he waited for news. Not wanting to bother anyone, Tim headed to the hospital on his own. In shock from the prognoses, he forgot to call Gibbs. He panicked when the man tried to call him a while later. He didn't answer. He didn't figure that his boss would understand what he was going through. Pulling into his parking space at NCIS, McGee took the keys out of the ignition of his Porsche, but couldn't bring himself to get out of the car. The stress of the last few days was finely catching up to him. He pounded at his steering wheel. Leaning back, hands sore; he sighed, feeling utterly alone. The moment was broken by his cell phone ringing. Checking the ID, he got out of the car, not bothering to answer. It was Gibbs again; time to face the music. Following the looks from Tony and Ziva, Gibbs looked at the elevator. It was his wayward agent. He was about to lay into the man, when he saw the look in his eyes. His two other agents stood up in worry as well.

"McGee, where have you been? What's going on?" Gibbs asked interrogating him.

"I… It's nothing," he stammered, while trying to bolt for his desk.

"It doesn't look like nothing to me, McGee, what is going on?" he demanded.

Looking at his team, he realized that he could not put off the explanation any longer. "I have cancer," he choked out.

"Oh, Tim," Gibbs whispered in realization, drawing the young man into a sudden embrace.

"We're here for you, buddy," Tony told him, gently placing his hand on the man's shoulder.

"Yes, McGee, we are here," Ziva confirmed with a surprising gentleness. "Is that why you were not there on Friday?"

"Yeah," he said, pulling away from Gibbs, "I ended up in the hospital that afternoon. I was having trouble breathing and my chest hurt."

"That must have been frightening for you," she said.

"All I could think of, was I'm too young for a heart attack, and when the EKG came back normal, I really got scared. I had no idea what was going on and I felt alone," Tim babbled.

"What? Nobody was with you?" Tony interrupted. "Why didn't you not call us? We're your teammates, we would have come."

"I did, but Abby said everyone was mad 'cuz I wasn't there, and Sarah is back home visiting mom and dad," he replied.

"Hang on, you called Abby, McGee?" Ziva asked.

"Yeah, I did, while the doctors were prepping me for the CT scan," was the shaky reply.

"Do you know what type of cancer it is?" Gibbs cut in. He could see both Tony and Ziva were getting worked up but he wanted to talk to Abby himself.

"No, not yet. My Oncologist has scheduled a biopsy for tomorrow morning. When we get the results, I'll have a discussion with him on how to proceed," Tim said, still a little shaky talking about it. But was feeling better now, with the support.

"That's quick," replied Tony.

"The doctor thinks it's bad, so he wants things done quickly. I still can't believe that you're not mad at me."

"Why would we be mad McGee?" Gibbs wanted to know.

"I called Abs back on Saturday when I got home, and she said that you were mad 'cuz I bailed. I believed her. She hates it when people lie. I didn't mean to lie to you guys," he got out.

"Never doubt that we'll be there for you McGee," Gibbs demanded, "are you alright to work today?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. My doc said that it would probably be best if I'm with friends. Boss, do you mind if I talk to Abby for a minute?"

When Gibbs agreed, he started to turn to head to the elevator, but stopped himself. "Guys, I'm not sure I want to be alone for the biopsy tomorrow."

They all assured him that they would be there for him, come hell or high water. Strengthen by the support from his teammates, Tim headed down to talk to Abby. She's his best friend, and the rejection hurt more then he was willing to admit. Turning around when the blaring music was shut off, Abby was surprised not to see Gibbs, but Tim instead. Turning back to her workbench, she refused to acknowledge his presence. Breaking a promise was like lying, and Tim definitely broke his promise. So, she would make him regret it before she forgave him.

"I do not have anything to say to you, McGee," she said, moving away from him.

"Good, because I need to tell _you_ something. Abby, look at me," he demanded. Out of shear shock, she turned. Not even Gibbs had ever spoken to her like that. "First off, I'm disappointed in you. You lied to me."

"You're disappointed in _me_? You bailed on me, remember?" she retaliated.

"Yes, I am. Nobody is mad like you said. In fact, they were quite empathic as to why I couldn't be there," he said as he started pacing. "It hurt Abby, to know that you don't trust me enough to have a good reason for breaking off plans with you."

"What do you mean? What happened?" She was getting worried. It finely sunk in that he had to something more important than the bar to deal with.

"Well, you know that cough that I've had for the past little while?" When she nodded, he carried on. "I found out what is causing it. Friday night after work, I ended up in the hospital with chest pains. When x-rays were taken, the doctors found shadows around my heart and lungs."

"No, they can't have! It's all a big mistake. Have you gotten a second opinion?" she denied.

"Yeah, I did, and she agreed it's cancer," he pressed on, through her gasp. "I have a biopsy tomorrow morning. Please tell me you'll be there. You're my best friend Abby I can't go through this without you."

"I'll be there for you, Timmy," she cried as she engulfed him with her arms. She wanted to cry at the pain she caused him and the pain he'll soon be going through.

Gibbs smiled and left unnoticed. He had come down after McGee, just incase the man needed help, but it would seem the two sorted themselves out. Much to the teams amusement and McGee's chagrin, Abby went into full coddle mode. She had decided to make up for the other night by fussing over him. His so-called friends thought it was too funny to stop her. Gibbs finely took pity on his young agent and sent him out with Ziva to re-interview a witness. Gibbs took this opportunity to head up to the Director's office, and inform her that the team was taking the next morning off. When she had asked why, he handed her the medical leave forms. After a soft gasp, she approved it all.

The next day saw the team at the hospital with a scandalized McGee. Both Abby and Ziva were trying to peek at his bum through the hospital gown. Abby said in her defense, that she had seen it all before and Ziva wanted to see his tattoo. Blushing furiously, he squeaked at them to stop when the nurse came in to prepare him for surgery. Laughing at his teams antics, Gibbs pried Abby off Tim and herded them all outside.

Minutes latter, they watched their friend wheel out of the room and off to the OR. Sobering immediately, they headed for the cafeteria. While the surgery itself would not take long, it would be a few hours before the sedative wore off enough for them to take their friend back to NCIS. The doctor had explained to them earlier in cringe worthy detail, how they would extract part of the tumor with a needle inserted between his ribs, and watching him in the wheelchair drove home the point that this was really happening.

Later in the day, the two women could not help giggling as they tried to get Tim to the waiting car. Gibbs had gone ahead to bring the car out front so he missed most of the man's left field comments and attempts to get up, but was enjoying the sight before him now. What was supposed to be a quick trip out the front door was hampered by the fact that McGee was higher than a kite. The thing that had finely sent Abby and Ziva into hysterics was as Tony was getting him into the front seat, the young man asked him if he was gay. In his drug fogged mind, it made sense that someone who chased as much skirt as he did might be compensating and told his friend so. Red faced, Tony got the younger man into the seat and retreated to the relative safety of the back seat. It was a moment before Gibbs was composed enough to make the drive back to the Navy Yard.

Waking up slightly disorientated, Tim tried to move. It took him a minute to realize that he was tucked into the futon in Abby's office and a moment longer to realize that the reason why his feet were numb, was that Jethro the German Sheppard was on top of them. Trying to figure out why they had brought the dog when he was only going to stay there until everyone was ready to go home, he shooed his companion off and went into the oddly quiet lab.

"Hey, Abs, what time is it?" he asked absently, scratching the dogs ears.

"It is 9 o'clock, Mister Wolf."

"Well, I guess if everybody is ready too go home, I should pack it in."

"It's 9 in the morning_, _McGee, why do you think Jethro is here?"

"It's already 9 in the morning?"

"You slept the whole night away. We stayed awake in shifts just to make sure you were all right. Ducky even stopped by to check on your wound."

"You got Jethro and stayed with me the whole night?"

"Yup, you actually thought that we would abandon you to your lonesome? Please, McGee, give us some credit. Besides, you are so cute when you're all doped up," she giggled, "Oh, by the way, your cell went off earlier."

Unable to say anything, he ignored the ache in his side and pulled her into a hug, hoping that it would convey all the love and support that he was feeling at that moment. Hugging him back, she smile in a way that told the man that she understood it all. Pulling away, he made quick work of the change of clothes that they had brought him. Then he checked the messages on his cell phone. Frowning, he asked her to watch Jethro for a bit.

He headed up to the bullpen to look for his team. When he realized that they were out, he called Gibbs to let him know that his doctor wanted to see him right away and that he was heading to the hospital. He assured his worried boss that he could handle the appointment on his own. The older man didn't sound like he believed his agent, but let it slide. Truth be told, McGee was a bit embarrassed by the attention. His team had already spent the night with him and he was fairly certain he had said something embarrassing to Tony, judging by the way Abby had dissolved into giggles when he had said the senior agents' name. He also didn't want to put them out any more. They had done so much for him and he didn't want to seem like a burden.

Armed with that logic, he justified going alone. Besides, he parents didn't even know what was going on. He had justified not telling them, by wanting to know what was going on first. He didn't want them to worry over nothing. He buried the guilt down. Opening the door to the waiting room, he went over to the admitting nurse and gave her his name. She handed him some forms and told him to sit down. Taking a seat by a young girl, he started in on the forms. It was difficult to tell her age due to the ravages of chemo, but she seemed to be around 13, with the bubbly personality to match.

Giving him a bright smile, she stuck out her hand and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Olivia, but everyone calls me Livie."

"Well, hello, my name is Tim," he smiled back, returning the handshake.

"I have Hogkins Lymphoma. What about you?" she asked to her parents' horror.

"I don't know yet, I just had my biopsy and I'm here to get the results," he told her.

"Oh, so you are new here. Don't worry, Dr. Cam only takes nibbles." Her parents were beat red.

"I will take that into consideration when I talk to him," he said giving her the same serious tone that she gave him. Laughing brightly, she skipped after her parents as her name was called. Smiling, McGee finished the paperwork and waited for his turn.

"Tim McGee," a nurse called out. "Right this way please."

"Thank you," he told the nurse, when she lead him too an office. Waiting for the doctor, he began to regret the decision to come alone.

"Mr. McGee, nervous?" he smiled as his patient stilled his fidgeting hands. "As Livie may have mentioned, I only take nibbles. When I talked to you over the phone I thought that it was bad and it is."

"Please Dr. Summers, just tell me," he pleaded.

"Alright, you have end stage Thymic Carsoma. To be precise 4A. That mean it is in the final stage but has not yet reached your lymph nodes or your blood stream. That is the very last stage of this cancer. It is highly aggressive, as you know from the x-rays."

"What are my odds of living threw this?"

"Not one for easing into things are we? Not good, it is very aggressive, but please keep in mind this is a rare a cancer and there is not a lot of statistics on it. I want you to get treatment right away."

"Alright, what are the options?"

"Surgery is the best option for this type of cancer, but seeing as how far the cancer has spread, I want to start you on a round of chemo first. Then, after the surgery, another round of chemo, plus a round of radiation therapy. In addition, there is a clinical trial that I would like to get you into. They have had some excellent results. Now, I know this is a lot to take in, but we need to move fast."

"Alright, Doctor Summers, let's do it. Try to get me in that clinical trial. If the odds are as bad as you say, I will need all the help I can get. When do you want to start me on the first round of chemo?"

"Good, the more you are willing to fight, the better the chances you have of surviving. I want to schedule you in for next week I will have my nurse call you shortly with a schedule of treatment days."

Getting up, Tim shook the doctors hand and headed for his car. He would call his parents, but there was something he needed first: an Abby-sized hug. The phone call was going to be rough and he needed all the support he could get. When the elevator doors opened and as Tim saw his team, he almost did not head into the lab, but he reminded himself that they would give nothing but support. Calling out his best friends' name, he opened his arms. Turning around Abby took one look at him and threw herself at him. He stumbled back a bit from the force of her hug, but managed to stay upright. The team saw the look on his face and rallied around him, giving the man the chance to cry. With the tears, came healing. As they held him, Tim let go of the stress and anger that had wrapped itself around him. They knew that there would be worse days, but for now, his friends offered what they could.

Sitting on the futon, surrounded by his surrogate family, McGee hit the speed dial for his parents. Jethro, sensing his masters' distress, had bullied his way to a seat right beside the man. After giving his face a through wash, the dog curled up beside him with his head on Tim's lap. When his mother answered, he almost hung up. He had never told her anything, knowing full well that it would make her cry. Until now. Once he knew everyone was listening, he broke the news. Tearfully, they told their son they would make it out to support him. What had scared him the most, was his normally volatile sister's reaction. She went quiet; the only thing he could make out from her was sniffling. He was close to her and needed her perhaps most off all. Afterwards, he sat on the couch for a bit thinking, before heading into the main lab to help the Goth with decrypting a hard drive. He walked wondering: how much time he would have left to do things like this?


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Tentatively, Tim walked up to the admitting desk and gave the nurse his name. Following her to the room given to him, McGee had to smile. Livie was skipping towards him. When the girl saw him, she gave a squeal of delight and ran up to him for a hug.

"Are you here for treatment, too? Yuck, you're all wet," she told him.

"It's the first day of my treatment and it was snowing when I got here. First snowfall of the season," he replied.

"Great, I love the snow! You can do all sorts of things with it, like make snow angels and build snow forts. I have treatment every three days and this one's the start of my cycle. How about you Tim?" she prattled excitedly.

"I have treatment every three days too. It would seem that we're on the same treatment cycle," was his reply as he tried to hide the sympathy he felt for her.

"That's great! We can be buddies," there was a pleading note to her response.

"We can totally be buddies," he agreed warmly, giving her a smile. Livie practically vibrated with excitement.

Smiling fondly at her young patient, the nurse gently shooed her out so that Tim could get changed. When she got to the door, Livie turned and gave him a big Betty Boop wink before running off to her calling parents. Laughing, he waved goodbye before closing the door. It was hard to see such a cute little sprite going through such a hard battle, but if she could be that strong so could he. Tim thought to himself as he put on the hospital gown.

After re-opening the door, he crawled into bed and waited for the nurse to return. The team had called him earlier to let him know that they would be by after work, due to a case they had just gotten. He promised them it was all right. With nothing else to do, he hauled out the book he brought in his overnight bag. Because it was his very first treatment, the doctor had wanted Tim to stay overnight so that his reaction to the medication could be monitored.

A short time later, a nurse came in and checked his vitals. Even less time passed before Doctor Summers arrived with an IV. The doctor told him not to fight any of the symptoms, and if for any reason he became worried with what was going on, not to hesitate to call the on-duty nurse. Tim watched the needle slide into his arm, wishing his family had not been delayed at the airport by a heavy snowfall in their area.

It was when he was left alone that Tim began to feel sorry for himself. He knew that his friends couldn't just drop everything to be with him, but it was hard doing this alone. So, he began sulking. The funk had been broken by the most unexpected scours.

"What're you doing here, Livie?" he asked when she suddenly showed up at his door, "I thought you were getting treatment."

"Of course I am getting treatment silly, why do you think that I'm dragging the bag around?" she replied, rolling her eyes as she pointed to the IV poll.

"Aren't you worried about getting sick while you're wandering around?" he asked.

"I won't lose my cookies for a bit. I learned to know when I'm going to start to yak; besides I wanted to be here for you. You're all alone for your first time and you shouldn't be. That would be no fun. Now scoot over," she told him. Unable to trust his voice, McGee pulled back the covers and shuffled over so she could crawl in. The nausea hit shortly after that and despite having a light breakfast, so he lost it all and more.

Rubbing his back as he dry-heaved the way her father for her did, Livie soothed her new friend through it all. When his revolting stomach settled down, Tim turned away from her, ashamed that a child had to help him. Affronted by this, she immediately told him to knock it off. She understood what he was going through and he needed someone to be there for him. Besides, Livie said he would be returning the favor soon. Far too quickly, that was true her thin body shuddering with every heave. Gently holding her, Tim help the child ride the nausea out. After, she fell asleep, fatigued by the demands of her body and from the powerful drugs in her system. He softly sung her into a deep sleep with a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him.

Her parents had worriedly watched the whole thing from the doorway. When their daughter had found out that Tim was all alone, she insisted on coming over. They had finely given in when she pleaded that the man was her friend, and friends stuck together. She had taken a shine to him and that was rare, so they took her to his room. It had been difficult for her not having a normal life and seeing so many of the friends she had made, lose their struggle. They could not help but to smile as he sung her to sleep. Mouthing thank you, her father gently scooped his daughter up and carried her to her own bed. Tim was drifting off to sleep himself when he here a familiar voice.

"Hey probie, lose your hair yet?" Tony asked.

"No, I have not," he said, trying to sound gruff but failing miserably.

"Sorry we couldn't be here earlier, McGee," Ziva told him.

"It's alright, I found a friend," Tim started to say, but the rest of what he was going to tell them was cut off by another round of vomiting.

The nausea had hit when he first smelled the coffee in Gibbs' hand and when his boss moved closer, it finely triggered the heaving. Embarrassed, he stammered out an explanation. He wanted to say he was sorry as well, but didn't, knowing how his boss felt about those.

Shocking everyone, Gibbs went into the bathroom and poured out his coffee. Coming out with a wet paper towel, he gently wiped the spittle from Tim's mouth. The man's actions had suspired everyone. When Tim ducked his head in embarrassment, the older man gently lifted his chin so that their eyes met, and he told him not to be ashamed of needing the help.

They talked for hours. Telling him about the new case, both Tony and Ziva whined that they had to do the computer stuff themselves. Abby fussed and doted on him, making sure that he was comfortable, even offering up Bert. Tim gently refused, saying he would rather visit the farting hippo in the lab. Gibbs asked about his new friend and they all smile at his disruption of Livie.

When they noticed Tim starting to fade on them, Abby tucked her friend in and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Ziva playfully gave him one on his other cheek. Bashfully, he said good night as Tony tried to get a kiss from the women. All he got was a light smack on the head for his efforts. When the nurse came in later to check on the sleeping man, she could not help giggling when she saw a lipstick stain on each cheek. The next day brought a good surprise; his parents and sister had managed to get out. There was a break in the weather and they caught the first flight out.

"Tim," his dad called out before entering the room.

"Dad, Mom, you made it," Tim smiled as he was engulfed in a hug.

"There was a break in the weather," his mother told him.

"Well, I'm glad you're here. Where's Sarah? I thought that she would be here too," he asked, confused by her absence.

"Hey, Tim," she said timidly, coming out from her hiding spot.

"Sar, come here," he told her, opening up his arms for a coddle.

"Oh, Tim," she cried as she latched on to him.

"Hey, it'll be alright," he told her, ignoring the soreness it had caused.

"Alright!? How can you say that when you're so sick?" she went off in typical fashion.

"I can 'cuz my sis is here," he told her, glad that she was feeling a bit better.

Sarah harrumphed and held on tighter. Tim tried to ignore the pain her hug caused. She needed to know he was alright and the doctor warned him of bruising anyway. After his sister disengaged from her strangle-hold, Tim's parents told him they were taking him out for breakfast. Not wanting to disappoint them, Tim agreed to going out, even though all he wanted to do was go home and curl up underneath the covers. Even the smell of food nauseated him, but Tim managed to get a bite down. His mother tried to get him to eat more, saying he lost weight, but he just couldn't do it. After a few hours, his dad noticing how pale their son was, and suggested they take him home to rest.

After losing the little food he had eaten, Tim grabbed his pajamas and curled up underneath his covers for a nap before his friends came over. Jethro jumped up and snuggled in beside him. Tim normally would have never allowed the dog on the bed, but he didn't know how long he would be able to take care of him, and the dog's presence was comforting. Dr. Sommers had said it was alright for light duty, so Gibbs allowed himself to be talked into letting Tim help Abby, and do the ever-neglected paperwork. So, dragging his butt out of bed, Tim got ready for work. The double duty with his friends and his family knocked the stuffing out of him and he was feeling it, but his pride refused to allow him to stay at home when work had been so fiercely won.

Grabbing his hairbrush, he started on his routine until he got a shock. The brush had taken a clump of hair with it as he pulled it through his hair. When he tried to comb over the spot, all he did was pull more hair out. Slamming the brush down, Tim forced himself to get a handle on his anger.

Humiliated an hour later, he walked into the bullpen with the bald spot in full view of everyone. Nobody said anything about it but he could feel the sympathy looks. The get well soon cards and hope you feel betters were bearable, but the looks directed at his head almost made him run for the safety of his one person that had made it all bearable was Tony of all people. After seeing his teammate's desolate look, the man had taken a long lunch and when he got back, Tim was flabbergasted.

"Tony your… why..." he stumbled out.

"Well, I couldn't let you have all the fun now could I?" he asked.

"Thank you," Tim got out, on the verge of tears.

"It was nothing," Tony replied, rubbing his shaved head.

"After work, could you? I mean, if you're not busy?" he tried to get out, motioning to his own head.

"Yeah, sure buddy," Tony smiled, knowing what his probie was trying to ask. "You know, I think Cynthia is in love with you, McGee."

"What?" he sputtered out.

"Thanks to you, we have handed in more paperwork in half a day then we have all month," Tony told him seriously.

"Yes, McGee, she was giving you quite the look," Ziva teased him.

"Back to work," Gibbs told his team, smirking the whole time at their accurate teasing. He had been proud of Tony when he had come back from lunch. The man had pleaded to his boss for a little extra time at lunch and Gibbs was glad he listened to his gut and granted the request.

Fortunately for Tim, the team had not quite headed back to their own desk, because the only thing that had kept him from cracking his head against his desk as he collapsed was Gibbs and Tony catching him. After gently laying the unconscious man on the floor, Gibbs called Ducky while Tony undid the buttons around Tim's collar. Ziva placed her bundled up coat underneath McGee's head as a pillow, and then let out a gasp as she got a better look at his chest. Tony swore when he opened up the man's shirt a bit father. Tim's chest was black with bruises. Gibbs stared at the bruise in shock, the situation bringing up old wounds.

Swallowing the gasp at seeing his colleague lying on the ground, Ducky allowed his training to take over. Instructing Jimmy to take vitals, he attempted to get a coherent story out of the traumatized team. Seeing Tim fall, then finding the bruise, had frightened them badly and they all started to talk at once. Cutting them off, the coroner asked if anyone had called an ambulance. Looking around, they realized in shock that none of them had thought to call 911. Hearing a voice, Ducky looked around and recognized a young man from another team that Tim had got to know well, because of a mutual love of electronic toys. He told the coroner he had an ambulance coming. Thanking the young man, the doctor got back to his patient.

After going to Tim's desk and retrieving a list of the medications he was on, Ducky got his vitals and didn't like what he discovered; the man's blood pressure was low and his heartbeat was weak. Grabbing Tim's coat, Jimmy gently placed it on him, trying to warm him a little. Smiling at his assistance thoughtfulness, Ducky helped him keep the agent in their care, as comfortable as possible. When the paramedics arrived, Ducky gave them a dizzying run down of the powerful drugs in his system. It was the coroner's biggest fear that the cocktail of drugs would, instead of saving Timothy, cause problems. Following the paramedics into the ambulance, Ducky left Gibbs and his team to follow in the car. After they made some painful calls to his family.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three **

**Sorry for the wait, between working at building boats, working the boat show and sailing life has been not conducive for getting chapters posted. As always if I owned NCIS I would not be an apprentice. Please review I'm needy. **

**…**

After calling the McGees', so they could meet them there, the team, plus Abby, raced to the hospital. The bullpen was eerily quiet when they left. The young man was well-liked and seeing him collapse was shocking.

Pushing the sedan to its limits, Gibbs got them to the hospital in record time. It was one thing to be hurt doing their often dangerous job, but quite another to collapse because one's own body was working against itself.

After a quick search, the team found Ducky in one of the many non-descript lounges that the hospital housed for relatives of the patients. When they saw the older man, the pensive mood was broken and a firestorm of questions was unleashed.

"Quiet, everyone, please," Ducky called out above the demanding voices.

"What happened, Duck?" Gibbs asked softly when his team settled down.

"I don't know yet, Dr. Sommers is still running the blood test," he told them, the concern in his voice evident.

"What do you mean he's still running Timmy's blood work?" Abby demanded, "I need to take the vials back to my lab, so I can find out what's wrong! My babies can find anything, and I'll make 'em work triple time, quadruple time even."

"Abigail," Ducky tried to calm her, "I know you mean well and I have no doubt that Timothy will appreciate your willingness to help, but he has one of the best oncologists in the state taking care of him. Don't you think that we should let him work without interruption?" he asked her, gently sidetracking her rant.

"Alright, but he better find out what is wrong with my Timmy or I will kill him and leave no evidence," she replied, sulking.

"A useful skill, Ms. Sciuto," a light baritone said from behind them, "but one that I hope is not necessary."

Every one turned around to see who was addressing them, and saw who they assumed were the McGees'. Tim's sister Sarah was with them and the resemblance was obvious. She had their height, slender frame, and dark hair. If someone said that Timothy McGee was their son, that person would have been laughed at. Walking over, Tim's father, Tom, introduced himself. His brown eyes sparkled as his son's teammates tried to comprehend how this small thin man with salt and pepper black hair was related to their friend. The air of command he wore reminded them of Gibbs. His mother, Colleen, was a bit taller, willowy and had a pair of blue eyes that missed very little. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a braid that fell to her waist. Gibbs was the first to note that his youngest agent had a little of her features. Sarah, who was bouncing from foot to foot, was a clear mix of her mother and father.

"There was a mix-up at the hospital and my real brother is with a different family," Sarah said cheekily.

"Sarah McGee, behave yourself," her mother gently scolded.

"My son bears a striking resemblance to his maternal grandfather when he was Tim's

age," Tom chuckled at the old dig, "Agent Gibbs do you have an ETA on his blood work?"

"It will be a few hours before the results come back, and please Commander, it's Jethro," Gibbs replied.

"Only if you call me Tom. Tim has told us much about you and your team, it feels like we know… Sarah, where are you going?" Tom wanted to know. He sighed when he heard her sound off.

"Tim, what the hell," she demanded, "You said you were fine and now you're in the hospital, are you trying to give us grief? Dad has enough grey hairs without you giving him more," she demanded, getting into her rant. "If you were not up to going to work you should have stayed at home instead you decide to be a polka-dotted-ninny and go in. I thought you had a genius level IQ."

"This coming from the goober who rollerbladed into a parked car, broke her wrist, and didn't tell anyone for three hours. I thought I was alright for desk work and besides, you have given dad way more grey hairs then I have," Tim shot back and stuck his tongue out for good measure.

"Their fighting is nothing else, if entertaining," Tom told the team, who were staring at the bickering siblings.

"That's enough children," their mother told them. The course of 'yes moms' and sullen looks had Gibbs choking on his coffee.

After finishing his drink, Gibbs followed his team into McGee's room. The smell of coffee still bothered Tim, so he tried not to have it around the younger man. Everyone made themselves as comfortable as possible around the bed. The team took an instant liking to Tim's family. His father Tom reminded them of Gibbs and his mother Colleen despite her airy appearance had a sharp mind and quick wit. Combined with Sarah's firecracker personality at times it seemed he was a changeling. His mother told them about Tim's childhood. He was too busy being embarrassed to notice how awed his team was at his ability with computers. From a young age, he was writing programs and much to his parents dismay, hacking.

Sarah, with glee, told them how he shut down the base one year when one of his programs ended up in the base computers. He denied all knowledge of how it got onto the system. It was obvious to his team that the computes Gibbs loathed, had become an extension of McGee. The conversation was halted when Dr. Sommers entered the room. The atmosphere grew somber as they saw his grim face.

"I'm glad to see your family made it out, Tim. Their support will help with treatment. We have found out why you collapsed this morning. It would seem you have developed a complication sometimes found with this cancer, called acute red blood cell anemia. Your oxygen was low and caused the collapse. You will need blood before I discharge you; it'll help and I have prescribed a medication that if not send it into remission, will keep the anemia under control," he told the shocked room.

"So, I am going to have to deal with this the rest of my life?" Tim asked, miserable.

"Unfortunately, yes, you will. This will be a re-occurring problem that can be caused by your cancer and until we get it under control, your friends are going to have to be gentle to avoid bruises," Dr Sommers smiled slightly as Abby and Sarah gently released their death grips on his patient's hands. "I have also prescribed you supplements, seeing as how you've lost weight. Try and eat as much as you can, it'll help with your healing."

"How will this affect my surgery, doctor?" Tim asked, hoping that his voice didn't shake.

"The anemia definitely raises the risk of severe blood loss and death. Your recovery time will be much longer than normal, but we will take every precaution that we can," Unable to hear anymore from the doctor, Colleen ran out of the room crying.

"Mom," Tim called out, trying to get out of his bed.

"I'll go, Tim," his father said, gently pushing him back down.

"No, Dad, this is my fault, I have to make it better," he pleaded, distraught.

Placing a callused hand gently on his agent's shoulder, Gibbs tried to reassure him. "It's not your fault Tim, please believe us, but this is something your father needs to do."

Unhappily, he settled down, allowing his father to go calm his mother down. The young man leaned into his bosses touch needing the support he offered. The father in Gibbs desperately wanted to stroke Tim's hair to soothe him, but he forced himself not to, knowing that if any hair came out with the strokes, it would destroy the fragile calm he had won. A few minutes later, the McGee's came back in, hand in hand, and Dr. Sommers tried to tactfully tell her that there were support groups for the parents of children with cancer. When it looked like his mother was about to break down again, Tim quietly told her he was in a support group himself, and that he thought it would be a good idea for her and Dad to look into it. He even said that he could ask Livie's parents about it, seeing as they went to one. This seemed to calm her down, though she gripped her husband's hand tight when a nurse came in with an IV.

An hour later, when the bag was finished, they packed him into a car and headed to Tim's apartment. He could not help smiling as he watched Abby and Sarah play with the dog. Rolling his eyes when his mother announced that the lack of food was disgraceful and took the car to get groceries, he suggested that the two women take Jethro for a walk. They gleefully agreed, never realizing that he was trying to get them out of the house. His dad and boss were harder to get rid of. As Gibbs watched his youngest agent fidget with his hair, the man realized what was going on and suggested that they go out for a pizza. Despite being confused, Tom realized something else was going on and agreed to go.

When they left, Tim went into the bathroom and got his razor out. Not saying a word, Tony pulled over the chair from the computer desk and settled his probie into it. A few tears trickled down his face as Tony tried to make the process as fast as possible. Afterwards, Tim went into the bathroom again to see his shorn locks, as Tony cleaned up. When he came out, his surrogate big brother went to work, making him smile.

A little while later, as people began to trickle back in, they took stock of his shaved head and other then a hug from his mom and a snuffle from Jethro, it went unremarked. Settling back into the chair, he nibbled on a slice of pizza. With McMutt at his feet and his friends and family sprawled out on the floor, the small apartment seemed to gather a cozy feel. Everyone enjoyed themselves, never realizing that tragedy was walking up the pathway.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Lying in the hospital bed, Tim could not help smiling at his companion. Once Livie found out he was having surgery, she instead on being there the day of the surgery. It was early December and between the month-long round of chemo and dealing with the anemia, he was having a rough time at work when he could get in at all, and having her here was a boost to his flagging sprits. Despite his mother's best efforts, he still lost an extraordinary amount of weight and the cold he caught at the office sent him to the hospital when it turned into bronchitis. After that, he made sure he always wore a mask over his mouth when he went out.

He was also glad that his father had been able to stay for his surgery. His wasn't sure when his parents first came, if he could, but an old friend of the family's said she would stay deployed longer so Tom could be with his son. Tim was finding that just as Gibbs acted as a buffer between him and his fussing teammates, his father acted as a buffer between him and his mother, knowing the women could and would go overboard with her need to protect her son. If left up to her, Tim suspected that she would never allow him to leave the house.

Livie and Sarah seemed to know instantly how to gage his energy level, and changed their responses accordingly. Livie and Sarah, who had a college friend going through this, knew he needed to be treated gently, and this knowledge saved him on more than one occasion. Gibbs and his father used the two as a gage for how much Tim could handle, and his boss had gratefully kept Abby from launching herself at him, saving him from bruising on several occasions. He loved the woman, but sometimes she forgot that she needed to be extra gentle with him.

"You remind me of a rose, Timmy," the girl told him, interrupting his reverie.

"I do?" he asked, confused.

"Yup, a red rose. Very smart looking and very pretty, plus, you smell real nice like a rose," she replied.

"Well, I think that you would be a sunflower. You always have a sunny smile that brightens up my day," he smiled down at her. Giggling she snuggled deeper into his chest and took much needed comfort in her friend. A few minutes went by when Tim heard sniffling and felt a wet spot on his shoulder. "Hey, Livie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she denied.

"Please tell me what's wrong?" he pleaded, now very concerned.

"I don't want you to die; you're my friend," she wailed.

"What makes you think that I'm going to die?" Tim asked, troubled by her response.

"Everyone else does, and you were so sick with that cold," she whimpered through tears.

"I'm scared that you'll die too."

"I'm not going anywhere, luv," he promised, hoping that he could keep that promise.

"Pinky swear," she asked solemnly, offering her hand in the strongest promise a thirteen-year-old girl knew.

"Pinky swear," he agreed, raising his hand. "Feel better, Livie?"

"Yes, but you better be alright, and no scaring us," she informed him.

"I'll try not to. Would you like to talk about it?" he asked.

"Remember Dannie?" she asked. When he nodded, she continued. "She died yesterday."

"Oh, hunny," he whispered, hugging her gently. "I am so sorry. How are you holding up?"

"It hurts so much, Timmy. Why did she have to die? Everyone thought she was getting better, even the doctors said so, but all of a sudden the cancer got real bad and she died last night," Livie babbled, needing someone to just listen.

"I don't know why people die on us. All I do know is that only with time, will the hurt fade, luv, but it will," he promised her quietly.

"How do you know that? How do you know that I won't hurt forever?" she demanded, forgetting his far-too dangerous job.

"When I first started working for NCIS, Ziva wasn't on the team, my friend Kate was. We lost her two years after I joined Gibbs' team. It took me a long time to stop feeling sad about Kate's death, but with the help of friends like Tony, I did, and now I can remember the happy times," he softly explained.

"Do you still miss her?" came the small question.

"Yeah, I do kid, but it doesn't hurt anymore; and when you're ready too, you will start feeling better," he assured her.

"I hope so, and remember you promised not to go anywhere," she told him sternly.

"I won't," he replied, praying again, that he could keep that promise.

He chuckled as she snuggled back into his chest and tightened the hug a little. Smiling at the scene in front of them, Tim's friends and family entered the room needing to be with him before his surgery. The surgery was first thing in the morning so he had to get to the hospital ridiculously early, and insisted that everyone come in just before, rather than having them get up early so they could come in with him. Everyone put on a brave face while Tony and Sarah teased Tim mercilessly about his girlfriend. Giggling, Livie smacked one on Tim's cheek, everyone had a good laugh while trying to ignore the minutes slipping by.

When the nurses came to wheel him to the O.R., both Gibbs and Tom had to pry people off Tim. That included Tony to Gibbs' amusement. The Italian was scared for his best friend and it showed. When they followed him as far as they could, it broke everyone's heart.

Ducky suggested that everyone get comfortable in a nearby lounge when he saw the slightly lost expressions on their faces. It was difficult for them to simply stand aside and let someone handle the care of their teammate and friend. This was something that they really did not know how to deal with and it hurt them just as much as it did his real family. Taking up most of the chairs, the group settled in for the long haul ahead.

The surgery was a difficult one without the problem of Tim's anemia. Sinking down into a chair, Gibbs thought back to when he had told them about the upcoming surgery in detail. He really did not want to hear the painful explanation, but his young agent needed to talk to someone to waylay his own fears, so they sat on the couch and talked. It had seemed totally wrong to hear someone as young as him talk about open heart surgery, but that was the only way to remove the cancer from the pleura around his lungs and heart.

The one silver lining that had come out of this whole thing was he got to know the private young man better. A couple weeks into chemo Gibbs had found Tim on a park bench, over-looking the Anacostia River, with tears streaming down his face.

**OoOoOoO**

"Tim, what's wrong." Gibbs asked quietly.

"Nn-nothing's wrong Boss," he stammered out, embarrassed that he had been caught crying by the man.

"Yes, there is, please tell me what," the older man tried again.

Looking at his boss for the first time searching for condemnation and when he found none, Tim counted: "I have to give up Jethro." It took Gibbs a second before he realized that he was talking about the dog. "Why, Tim, you love him?"

"It's getting too hard to take care of him and with the cost of chemo, I can't afforded to kennel him. Everyone else is staying in places that won't take dogs and Ducky already has so many that I doubt that he can take another. I was so mad at Abby for making me take him at first, but now I don't know how I'll get through this without him. Jethro is so loyal to me and doesn't care about how I look or anything else," Tim got out as he started crying again.

"Hey, Tim don't worry, I'll take him until you're better. I do have the space for a dog, remember?" Gibbs offered, worried for the man's mental state.

"You will?" was the hopeful query.

"Yes, I will, but I expect you to see him as much as you're able too," he responded, relived at the grateful smile that now graced his agent's face.

"I will, Boss, I promise," Tim told the man, elated and relieved at the offer.

Tim kept his promise, going to his boss's house almost every day. Smiling, Gibbs would watch them play in the back yard and when Tim grew tired, they would go inside and cuddle up on the couch and talk to Gibbs. The older man didn't have the heart to chase the dog off the sofa when he saw how happy it made his second son.

**OoOoOoOo**

Unable to sit and wait anymore in the stiff chairs, Gibbs got up and went in search of coffee. The kid had worked his way into his heart next to Tony, and the thought that they may lose him hurt beyond belief. Paying the cashier, he went outside and found a park bench to sit on while he waited for Ducky to arrive. Sure enough, a few minutes later his best friend joined him, ready to listen.

"What if we lose him, Duck?" he whispered.

"We won't Jethro, Timothy is a strong young man," the M.E. reminded him.

"But this cancer is so rare and the survival rates are not good."

"That young man is stubborn enough to survive just to spite the odds, just ask Anthony. Oh, don't give me that look, you know just as well as I do that Timothy holds his own. He is just more subtle about it then your senior agent is."

"True," Gibbs answered, remembering a certain computer program that ended up on Tony's computer that quite literally made the thing hiccup at random moments. Agitated, he got up and begin to pace. "However, this is not prank playing we're talking about, Ducky, it's open-heart surgery. God, why did I have to take so long to get to know him? He has been on my team for years now and I had no idea he plays the guitar _very _well_, _and that the Deep Six novels were not the first thing he has written. Don't laugh, but you know the holes in the storylines we were making fun of, well they're not holes, but part of a larger story arc that has to be pieced together over multiple novels. And the characters were not as close to us as we first thought. I think it was a way for him to honor the people he works with."

"Well, it would seem that I have some rereading to do, but that's not all of it, Jethro," Ducky stated, knowing his friend all too well. "We have all made that mistake. He is a quiet, private man and sometimes it is far too easy to keep the status quo then try and dig deeper, but there is something more going on with you, we have all seen it."

"Have I been that obvious?" Gibbs asked.

"Well, let's see you have taken in his dog, given him a hug, and actually poured out coffee for him," Ducky said dryly.

"My mother passed due to cancer," Gibbs told him as he sat down with a thud, "I watched her being wheeled away to an operation room and that was the last time I saw her alive. Now it's happing all over again."

"Jethro, why must you insist on keeping everything in?" Ducky asked as he wrapped his arm around his friend in comfort, "We don't know that he will die. He has just as much a chance of surviving, and maybe more, given how stubborn he is. Hold on to that hope; it's all we have."

The two men sat there for almost an hour, taking comfort in each other's company. When they returned to the waiting room, they were shocked to learn that the surgeon has come out with an update and it wasn't good. Tim was losing a lot of blood and his sister had been told that she needed to donate blood because of their shared rare blood type. Gibbs was about to disappear again when Abby latched on to him and started sobbing. Holding on tight to his surrogate daughter, he guided her to a chair, choking back his own tears.

Hours later, the surgeon came out to see them looking tiered and gave them the news that he survived and was being moved to recovery. No one was allowed to see him yet, as the man wanted Tim to get as much rest as he could. He had lost a lot of blood and his heart had stopped twice, so the no visitor injunctions were made, so he could recover as much strength as he could. The news was not as great as they had hoped, but he was alive and that sent a wave of relief through the group. Blinking owlishly against the white sterile lights in the room, Tim tried to focus on the figure beside him, before starting to gag on the ventilator.

"It's all right son, I'll get a nurse," his father's voice told him before disappearing out the door.

"Well, up so soon?" she asked as she entered the room. Gently taking hold of the mouthpiece, she told him to cough. After she removed the tube, the nurse squeezed his shoulder and left to give the two some privacy.

"You gave us a quite a scare Tim," Tom got out as he gave his son a sip of water, "but you'll be fine."

"What happened, Dad I feel so weak?" he croaked out, his voice still raw from the ventilator tube.

"We almost lost you twice when your heart stopped and you lost so much blood that Sarah had to donate," his father told him, choking back tears.

"How mad are they at me?" he asked.

"Who?" his father asked, deliberately missing the question, then laughing at his son's pointed look, "Your mother went on a major cleaning blitz. I doubt that your apartment has looked cleaner. Sarah, Abby, and Livie are all swearing that they will never talk to you again, though I think when your sister gets over it she will never let you live down her donation to the cause."

"Women," Tim said in disgust.

"They give you grief because they love you," the man chuckled, taking his son's hand,

"Now back to sleep with you. The women you insist on collecting will have my hide if they find out I kept you up."

"Yes, Dad," Tim intoned before quickly succumbing to the sleep that his body so desperately needed.

Walking up hours later, Tim looked over to his father and chuckled softly. Still holding his son's hand, the man had himself, drifted off into much needed sleep in the chair next to his bed. He quietly studied the softly snoring man. Sleep had softened the worry lines that had marred his face. He had a few more crow's feet and more grey in his face then the last time Tim had made it home.

His family was close, and it was hard being such a burden to them. Despite the reassurance, he suspected that his team felt this way as well. Looking back on the last month, he doubted that doing the paperwork and helping Abby in the lab, made up for the missed days and being unable to go out in the field. Even the simple stuff, like writing a program, had become difficult at times and that hurt more than he was willing to admit even to himself.

This has been far too close a call and he did not want to force them to make the decision to take him off. _I'm not trying to kill myself, I just don't want to be a burden. If I have a Do Not Resuscitate order, it will be better for my family. _

As Tim drifted off to sleep, he could not figure out why the decision did not sit as well as it should have.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**I don't own NCIS. Nor do I own How the Grinch stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Here we go, next round. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone. Many huggs to my beta.**

**…**

There was only one-way to put it: Tim McGee was sulking. And his teammates were not sure why. From what they had found out, he had a nasty fight with his father just before Tom deployed and had been in a funk ever since. Despite their best efforts, they had not been able to get him to open up. Talking to his mother and sister had been a total disaster, so they went to their last remaining source of Intel: Livie.

"Hey there, girlie," Tony called out from the doorway. He had been tagged it, because after Tim, she was closest to _him_ on the team. He turned on the charm, hoping she did not notice his concern for her. The little girl was not doing too well.

"Oh hi, Tony," she smiled back, "What's up?"

"Well," he hesitated, suddenly unsure how to start.

"It's about Tim, isn't it?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"In one, kiddo. What's going on?" he asked, sitting on her bed.

"I don't want to talk about it," she snapped, turning away from him.

"Livie, if you tell me what happened, maybe we can do something about it," he pleaded.

Looking at the man's face and realizing that he was sincere, she began to cry. "Tim told Dr. Cam that if he stopped breathing that he was not allowed to help."

"What? When?" Tony asked shell-shocked.

"Just after his surgery. Why would Timmy do that? His chemo this time has been hard, but he pinky swore that he would fight. And now he's not! Why?" she wailed.

"Shh, it will be alright, I promise. The team and I will talk some sense into him," he pledged.

"Swear," she asked.

"Swear," he promised.

More like knock some sense into him Tony thought savagely as he placed a gentle kiss on Livie's temple. The team was more than a little surprised as they watched the man storm past them and down the hall to Tim's room. Following him, they tried to ask him what was wrong but were met with stony silence.

"What the hell Tim? Why would you put a Do Not Resuscitate order in place?!" Tony spat out as he grabbed his friends' arms and shook him.

Tony, you're hurting me," Tim gasped.

"I'm hurting you?" he snarled misunderstanding the plea, "What about what you're doing to your family and us? What about that little girl down the hall sobbing her eyes out because her friend broke a promise to her?"

"Let go," he yelled the adrenalin, giving him the strength to push Tony off, "Does it look like I'm going to live through this? I can hardly breathe from the radiation treatment, it's almost impossible to eat because of chemo and I'm not sure I can handle losing another friend. Dr. Sommers warned me that the survival rates for this cancer at my stage were low, and I keep thinking that I'm next, so I decided to make it easy on everyone. It's for the best."

"How can you say that? We've given you so much!" Abby screamed.

"Exactly," he snapped cutting her off, "All of you have been so nice to me and have bent over backward trying to accommodate me, while all I do is leech off you more. It's not right. I lost control of my life and decided to take back control for whatever is left of it."

A piercing whistle cut through the outraged denials. Gibbs hadn't known what else to do, the situation was spiraling out of control fast and he needed to regain order before the nurses threw them out of the hospital. Ordering the rest of the team outside, he closed the door and turned to Tim. The young man had backed himself to the bed and was huddled up miserably on it. Looking up at his name, the man all but bolted for the safety of his bosses open arms. Gibbs was mentally kicking himself for not seeing this mess coming. McGee had always been fiercely independent and in hindsight, it was all too easy to see that he starting to resent the forced dependence on his teammates and family. The breathing trouble had been a prime example.

Tim had been having trouble breathing that morning and it wasn't until noon that he finely said anything, not wanting to bother his team with more medical problems. He only allowed himself to be helped after a rather hard head slap. That's when they had found out that his lungs were inflamed due to the radiation therapy. The inhaler the doctor gave him seemed to help and they were slowly getting it under control. Making soothing noises while rubbing his back started to calm Tim down, and as the racking sobs subsided to sniffles and the occasional hiccup Gibbs sorely wished he could take his kids' burden unto himself.

"Better?" he asked gently.

"Yes, Boss," the younger man managed to get out.

"Tim, you're not a burden."

"I'm scared Boss, what happens if I die?"

"You are not going to die, young man, I won't allow it. Now, when is your treatment for today?"

"In half an hour," Tim replied smiling shyly at his demanding boss.

"Not enough time to get rid of that DNR, but you will. Got that? I'm not giving you up without a fight," Gibbs informed him possessively, "Now go make up with the team."

"Sure," he mumbled.

"Tell me you're not a burden," Gibbs demanded, "Say it."

"I'm not a burden," he said quietly.

"Louder," was the command.

"I'm not a burden," came out a little louder.

"That's right and I expect you to keep telling yourself that until you believe it. I am not willing to lose any of my kids," he told the young man, placing a hand on his cheek.

The team always knew that their Boss felt that they were his new family, but it had been gone unsaid until now. Gibbs felt more than a small tinge of fear at the admission. He put himself in a position that he could be rejected by the man he looked at as a second son and that rejection would kill him. The fear was erased as he felt a softer hand on top of his calloused one and looked into accepting understanding eyes. After making his boss promise to help Tony as well, Tim walked outside to the people he called family.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to them.

"You better be, McGee. I'm not sure I accept it though, you hurt me," Abby snapped as Tim looked at his feet in despair.

"Tony, Abby, go to the nurses' station and get some ice for McGee's bruises," Gibbs intervened. Abby tried to glare at him but was taken aback by the steel in the older man's look. He knew she had a strange blind spot when it came to dealing with McGee. She couldn't seem to grasp that he was his own reasons for doing things, ones that didn't necessarily coincided with hers. Tony on the other hand looked slightly hysterical.

"Bruises? Oh God Tim, I'm so sorry," Tony said in shock as he got a better look at the dark bruises already forming on his friends arms.

Running to the nurse's station before Abby could have a chance to move, Tony begged the women behind the deck for the needed ice. When he came back with his prize the man went about fussing over his probie. Even Gibbs winced a little when Ziva head slapped the senior agent. It sounded like it gave him one hell of a concussion. The two of them fussed over Tim telling him over and over that he was not a leech and it was not shameful to need help. Little by little, Tim McGee started to believe the words and by the time he was taken way to have treatment hope had crept it way in to his thoughts.

"Tony," Gibbs called to the fleeing form, "Tony," he called a little more forcefully.

"Boss," he asked pain written clearly on his face.

"Where are you going? Tim needs you."

"How can you say that? I hurt him. You saw the bruises."

"Yes, I did."

"How are you not angry with me? I deserve to be punished."

"You're doing a good job of it yourself, Tony."

"I deserve it," he said miserably.

"McGee made me promise to look after you Tony," Gibbs informed him. At the younger man's confused look he continued. "He knows that you didn't mean to hurt him and that you care about him as a brother would, son."

"You mean it?" Tony asked, hoping against hope that it was true even that last word that his boss had said. Too scared that it wasn't he could not meet his gaze.

"Yes, I do. He cares about you and so do I," Gibbs told him as he lifted the man's chin so their eyes met.

"Thank you for not giving up on us. For not giving up on me," Tony got out as he embraced his boss, resting his chin on the others' shoulder.

"Never," Gibbs gruffly told him tears misting his vision. Somehow these kids had found their way into his heart and he was not willing to lose them. "Now, Tim wants to give Livie some sunflowers to make up with her, go find some and bring them up to him."

"But Boss…."Tony's whining was cut off at the head slap. Looking at his bosses face Tony realizes that walking around the hospital with a bouquet of sunflowers was his punishment for forgetting to be gentle. "Yes Boss."

Smirking, Gibbs went to find Tim, and didn't like what he saw when he did. Instead of lying on the bed waiting for his treatment to start, he was sitting in front of the computer in the opposing room. At his questioning look, Tim explained that there was a problem with the computer that ran the machine. It was telling the machine to deliver a different dose to what had been prescribed by the doctor. In Tim's case, it was a much higher dose and a full body hit rather than just his chest, as it was suppose to. The computer guys were delayed in getting there, because of the weather, so they had asked Tim to take a look, because of his computer expertise. Gibbs could see the fear in the young man's face and placed a hand on his shoulder in support.

"It's not a glitch," he whispered. "It's a virus and it affects chemo prescriptions as well."

"Oh God," a technician whispered.

"It's worse Boss," he got out.

"How, Tim," Gibbs asked, hating what his kid was going through.

"This thing has been in the system for over a month. That's not all the virus has been telling the computer administer lower doses of chemo and radiation to some people. It doesn't change everyone's meds, just a few random people. Oh God, Livie she was getting better now she not," he wailed, struggling to get up out of Gibbs' grasp.

"Hey, Tim, we don't know if this affects her yet. I need you to focus on you right now, alright? Alright," Gibbs demanded. "I'll make sure that we handle the case."

"Alright," he sniffled as Tony and Dr. Sommers both walked into the room.

"Hey, what's wrong," Tony asked in concern.

"Hold on a moment, Tony. Tim, go see that little girl, she needs you," Gibbs ordered.

"Probie I got these so that you can make up with Livie," Tony said eyes pleading for forgiveness.

"Thanks Tony, for everything, you've been a real friend," Tim replied, easily giving it even if he was a bit distracted.

A quick conversation with Dr. Sommers had allowed him to forgo treatment for the day. It was at the end of his treatment cycle and it would take some time to get him into a session at another hospital. The doctor looked concerned they needed to find out who else was affected and get the victims the proper treatment. It was a daunting task. Gibbs was already on the phone with Director Shepherd so that she could have cyber crime get the computers rather than Metro. Tony listened in with a growing horror trying to wrap his mind around the fact someone messed with the medications on a cancer ward.

"Livie, I got these for you," Tim said after he knocked on the door. He placed the flowers on the bedside table as the little girl harrumphed and turned away from him. "I'm sorry, luv. I was scared and thought I was doing the right thing. I am working on getting rid of the order."

"Do you think flowers are going to work? You promised me that you would fight and then you broke that promise," she pouted.

"I am really sorry, Livie I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore," he replied quietly hoping the pain didn't show up in his voice.

"I think I can be convinced to forgive you, but it will cost you," she said quickly suddenly afraid that she would lose her friend.

"What do I have to do?"

"Well, first you have to watch whatever I want tonight and no complaining. You have to add your funny voices too, then you're going to take me shopping in the Porsche and then we will have ice cream and play with Jethro," she informed him of his pennants as she scooted over so that he had room in the hospital bed.

"Your wish is my command, oh radiant Queen of the Sunflower fairies," he said slipping in beside her. She giggled at him and snuggled him.

He was silently relived that she had forgiven him. He had been worried that she wouldn't. The first thing that they watched was A Charlie Brown Christmas and then it was the original How the Grinch stole Christmas. Tim had her giggling in no time flat. Livie loved him too much to stay mad at him. At first when she didn't respond to one of his silly voices, he thought that she had fallen asleep; it was late. Then he turned to look at her and saw the staring eye, and he began to scream. A nurse came in time to see him trying to do chest compressions. The paged Code Blue brought doctors and nurses into the suddenly crouweded room.

Tim was pulled off the bed and out into the hallway so they could do their work, but it was already too late. He could only watch in horror as a doctor called time of death. Despite their best efforts, they could not console the man and eventually Dr. Sommers had to sedate him. It seemed that the computer virus had claimed another victim. He prayed that grief would not claim the young man that had given Livie so much joy during her last days.

His team kept vigil over Tim while he slept, as Gibbs help console Livie's parents. He knew the heartbreak of losing a child and offered his support. If he was truly honest with himself Gibbs would have admitted that there was a part of him that did not want to tell Tim's family the news that their son was the victim of a crime that had already taken a child's life. He would, but wanted to delay the phone call a while longer.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**As always I don't own the show. Here a nice long chapter for the wait. One or two more chapters and an epolog and we're done with this story. A/N: faeire is and older version of the word. Tim seems like the kind of guy who would use it. He does use a typewriter.**

*******

Sunflower smiles and Betty Boop winks that's who you are

A dancing sprite that brightens my day that's who you are

Hugs that hold the pain at bay that's who you are

The giggles that chime through the air that's who you are

As darkness encroaches, a growing pain overwhelms the senses

The pause made for chimes that will not ring out anymore is pain like none other

Searching for Betty Boop winks and sunflower smiles is a barren cause

Gone they are whispers the pain never again the darkness answers

The dancing sprite has passed into the faerielands

All that's left are memories playing reel to reel in some grand old theater

Playing movies from a gentler time; sitting in a faded velvet chair

I watch the silver screen and morn for my Sunflower smiles and Betty Boop winks

"That's what Livie meant to me and to so many others," Tim told the church. He had been asked to give the eulogy at her funeral and unwilling this piece of poetry that he had written in the aftermath came to mind. "She always had a smile and would do anything too make you feel better. When I first met her, it was in Dr. Sommer's office waiting to find out my test results. She stuck her hand out and introduced herself to me. Livie made a frightening experience easier to get through and continued to do so afterwards and I loved her for that. At times Livie was an old soul giving me comfort as I puked my guts out for the first time at chemo, but she was also a little girl who needed comfort of her own because she lost yet another friend. Her life was far too short, but she was a bright star who could charm anyone into anything. Livie will be missed by everyone who knew her."

A gentle ripple of laughter drifted through the agents present as Tim headed back to his seat. They were no doubt remembering how she had managed to charms sweets out of Gibbs and a place on his lap. Tim had meant to say more but was far too upset to continue. Comforting arms were wrapped around his shoulders as tears begin to fall. The team and many of the agents who worked at NCIS came to pay their respects to the little girl. He had taken his young friend to work one day when Livie's parents had needed to go out of town and were worried about leavening her alone. She had quickly become the bullpens pet, running errands for people.

When Gibbs sent her up to deliver something to the director for the first time, the director had been surprised and followed the young girl out. Jenny leaned against the balcony rail in her favorite perch and smiled as she watched the young girl skip down the stairs. She had known that the youngster was coming but the delivery had been a surprise. The director bit back a giggle as Gibbs gave the little girl a sweetie for her effort, but couldn't contain them when Livie had batted her eyes and gotten a second one out of the man.

Looking up at the sound, Gibbs glared at Jenny for a moment before pulling the child on to his lap. Livie snuggled in waiting for the rest of the teams return unaware that the two of them had sent the director of a government agency to her office in a fit of laughter. Jenny had refused to let her old partner live it down teasing him as he cooked her dinner that night. The rest of the service passed by in a haze of grief for Tim, but he made it through and the time came he took his place with the pallbearers and as the casket slip beneath the ground, Tim whispered a final good bye before heading back to the car.

"Tim, when you're ready, head home," Gibbs told him at the reception. The funeral had been draining on the young man and it showed.

"But Boss, there's work that needs to get done," he protested.

"We can hold down the fort. Tim. You need to rest, you're dead on your feet," he told him firmly.

"That's right," Tony piped up. "You're still sick and need your rest. We'll find the people responsible, Tim, but not at the expense of your health."

"Besides, Tony needs the practice on the computer," Ziva smirked.

"Hey, what about you, Zee-va? It's not like you're any better," Tony retorted.

Smirking, Gibbs ended the bickering with a dual head slap. Unfortunately, it was all too true, they had not realized just how much they had come to relied on Tim for computer support until he had gotten sick. The techies had nearly gone on strike over how many times the team had given the network a nervous breakdown. Tim finely had to mediate a truce between the two warring factions. Watching McGee, Gibbs ordered Tony to take him home when it was time to go. There was something else bothering him and it showed. Hopefully he would open up without so many people around.

"Want to come in, Tony," he asked quietly. The drive from the reception to his apartment had been silent.

"Sure thing, probie. When do you finish treatment," Tony asked.

"My last dose of chemo is on Friday and when I'm done with that I'll have a blood test to see if I still have cancer," Tim replied as he opened the door to his apartment.

"What happens if the cancer is still there?"

"I'll have another round of chemo plus hormone therapy and maybe anther surgery. God, I hope I'm in remission…"

"Hey, buddy, I'm sure you will be. All your previous blood tests have shown that you're beating this. How are you holding up?"

"I'm tired, scared, and angry, really really angry, Tony. Why would anyone do something like this? I've always wanted kids and now I can't. You have no idea how much that hurts. Treatment wasn't suppose to rob me of that and because of that bastard being able to have my own kids is not an option," Tim ranted as he began to pace.

"Oh Tim, I'm so sorry," the older man gasped before enveloping his probie in a hug. At first he struggled a bit then dropped his head his friends shoulder and cried out his loss.

"That's it buddy, let it out."

It had been his biggest fear after finding out about the wrong dosage and apparently that fear was justified. Rubbing his back Tony soothed his friend and that's how Tim's mother and sister found them. Colleen silenced Sarah before she could demand what Tony had done this time. She had been furious when she saw the bruises that her brother had sported and when she had found out who gave them to Tim she tore into the man. Only Tim's intervention had gotten her to stop. He refused to speak to her until she apologized to Tony. Somewhat sulkily, Sarah held her peace and played with Jethro as Tim composed himself. Slowly, Tony soothed him into some semblance of calm not noticing Colleen slipping into the kitchen. Smiling, she put the kettle on and got out four mugs and watched the kids from the doorway. Sarah had worked her way over to the pair, finely gave up the pretence, and gave her brother a hug. Tony easily gave her room and between the two of them, they got her son calm.

"Hmm," Tony hummed when he heard the kettle whistling.

"Here you go kids," she told the trio as she came in with mugs.

"Thank you, Ms. McGee," Tony smiled, enjoying the sharp spicy flavor of the tea in his hand. "What is it?"

"You're welcome, Anthony. The blend is a market spice tea that comes from India, and it's Colleen. I expect not to have to tell you again," she smiled watching the young man all but bury his nose in the cup enjoying the smell.

"Thanks for the tea Ma, and thanks for being there today," Tim told her.

"You're welcome Timothy, have you talked to your father yet?" she asked.

"No, not yet. I will tomorrow," was the soft reply.

"He'll be glad to hear from you, Tim," he mother told him.

"So what's next for Thom. E. Gemcity?" Tony pried hoping it would distract from the mood.

"Yeah, brother dearest. What have you decided to do to us in your next book," Sarah needled.

"Well Sar, you're going to flunk out of collage and work at a burger joint the rest of your life and Agent Tibbs will come to his senses and make Tommy Agent McGregor's personal slave," Tim smirked.

"You wouldn't dare," Tony mock growled.

"Oh yeah? Why do you think I ended the last book the way I did?" It was no where near why Sarah's character was failing a few classes and why Agent Tommy looked the fool in front of everyone at the end of Rock Hollow, but it was fun to mess the two of them Tim decided.

"I'm sure that not true," Colleen said amused as Tony smacked her son lightly with a pillow.

"What were you two talking about earlier?" Sarah asked, still a little put out by Tony's presence.

"Stuff," Tim told her. He was not ready to tell his family about the infertility yet he wanted to talk to his dad first.

"What do you mean by stuff?" Sarah pressed. "He hurt you and you still talk to him more than me."

"Excuse me," Tim asked angrily. "Yeah, Tony grabbed me harder then he should have, but at least he cares enough about me to want an explanation."

"You think I don't care about you," she whimpered.

"When I tried talking to you about everything that was going on you shut me out and went shopping. What am I suppose to think? You're my sister but…" Tim's rant was cut off as his sister latched herself on to him. Stumbling back a bit he sat back down in the chair as Sarah climbed into his lap telling him that she loved him and that she was scared that's why she had runaway.

"Here, let me," Tony told Colleen and collected the mugs before heading into the small kitchen to give his friends some privacy.

"Those two may fight like cats and dogs, but they forgive each other quickly and easily," Colleen told him as she came up beside the man. "My son gives you the same consideration Tony."

"We're close, much closer than most partners. That's why it hurt so much when he put that dammed order in place, but I wouldn't change a thing. I'm far better for knowing Tim." It was the truth. When he was just a local LEO he had worked with other people before and they were just friends. Tim made him know what having a family felt like.

"He is very important to me and I would do anything for him."

"I can see that," Colleen smiled as she gently brushed the stubble that was his hair. "Sarah will forgive you just give her time."

"I will, Colleen. I've got to get back to work, but thank you for the tea and the talk," Tony said excusing himself. After saying good bye to Sarah and Tim he headed back to the Navy Yard and was happy to report to Gibbs that Tim would be alright.

The next day Tim could feel the energy vibrating in the air when he got into work. People were angry that someone could hurt one of their own in such a manner and went after those reasonable like a hound to the hunt. They were closing in on the suspects and that just made people work all that much harder. It was cyber crimes that had found the identity's of the two hackers and with deserved triumph they ran the names over to legal for the warrants.

When it came, people mobilized so quickly it made Tim's head spin. He was surprised at the support he was given at least until Gibbs head slapped him. People cared about him and he was expected to believe it. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Gibbs tried not to yell at the wailing women to shut up. Her precious baby was being arrested and she could not believe that he could do something like what they were claiming. The kid Eddie O'Connel and his friend Pete Jones were a couple of want to be punks with two much time on their hands and not enough parental supervision.

The ripped jeans, leather jackets and spiked hair they sported were meant to show the world how cool and dangerous they were. There was just one problem the men and women who were there knew what truly dangerous people were like. It came with the job and these two just weren't it, so all the posturing and clothing was wasted on the team. They just say a pair of eighteen year old twits who needed to be Gibbs-slapped into the next decade. The father of one of the boys told them not to say anything before the lawyers got there, before taking a swing at one of the agents as he tried to enter the house. The man had been lucky it hadn't been Tony or Ziva. If it had been one of those two he would at the very least lost his arm. With a malicious glee he was arrested. It might even work in their favor Gibbs thought as he watched the scene. The lawyers would be held up getting him out of jail giving them more time to go after Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

"Boss, I need to do this. I won't do anything to jeopardize the investigation, I promise," Tim told him.

"I don't want these guys getting off," Gibbs sighed trying not pinch the bridge of his nose for a second time that day. He hated it when the young man was being stubborn.

"They won't get off, I promise if you feel like I need to be pulled out of there do it, but let me have my say with him. We already have Jones's testimony," Tim demanded, meeting his boss head on.

"Keep it clean or your hide is going to be my new rug, got it McGee," Gibbs informed him. He was proud of the man he had come along way. When the kid first came to him he wasn't capable of standing up to a mouse let alone Gibbs.

"Got it, Boss," he smiled triumphantly. The older man really hoped that he was doing the right thing. Tony and Ziva eagerly took bets on what he would do. The 'I'm your friend' routine he pulled with Geckler or more of an angry routine. When Gibbs looked at the posture he knew and placed his bet.

"Finely, I have been here forever, so when am I getting out of here? My dad's real important. he works for congress. He'll never let me go to jail and he'll make sure your career is over… Hey, why aren't you talking to me," he asked the silent agent. Both Tony and Ziva huffed as they handed over their ten dollars to Gibbs. "And what's with the hair, baldie? Looks like you lost an argument with a razor."

Tim remained silent as Eddie laughed at his joke. Opening the file he had put on the table, he spread out the pictures. Tim made sure that they were all autopsy pictures before going to his boss.

"Why are you showing me these? My dads going to freak! I'm just a kid, you can't harass me," he informed the man sitting across from him.

"These are the people you killed, Eddie," he said softly, "Fourteen confirmed dead, two of whom were children."

"Don't know what you're talking about, I didn't kill anyone," the kid sneered.

"You put a computer virus in the cancer ward of the hospital. One that that caused a change in meds some people had far too high a dosage and some like these people got too low a dosage and died because of it." McGee's voice remained soft throughout his speech but he stared at the suspect in an attempted to creep him out.

"You feds can't prove anything. You're not that smart, that's why you became a cop, everyone knows that," Eddie snapped nervously.

"Well, that's just not true Eddie. Your friend squealed on you once we interrogated him, he fell apart. Not that I expected him to be smart enough to write the coding for the virus sloppy as it was," Tim needled.

"It was not sloppy. It was a work of art. Everyone on the site said so," he snarled. Not understanding what was going on. "I won the game fair and square."

"So you admit that you wrote the viruses."

"Of course I did, you think Pete's smart enough to…"

"No, I don't, but I think you are… barely. He told me everything how you two like to mess around on hacker sites and that the challenge was to plant a virtue in a business. Problem was you decided that a cancer ward was the best place for it. I looked at the viruses and wasn't impressed," Tim said his mouth curling in disgust.

"How can you say that? It was beautiful; you don't have any idea of what you're talking about. Besides, who cares if some cancer patients die quicker? Not like they were going to live anyway," Eddie sneered.

"That's where you're wrong; none of these patients were terminal until you killed them, and the one woman who was, died in agony because her dosage was wrong, and believe me, your dad is not going to work for congress much longer. He struck a federal agent during an investigation. Charges are being laid as we speak. Not only did you kill people but you've destroyed your family. That's not a nice thing to do." With that, Tim gathered up his photos and left Eddie to his thoughts.

Watching through the window, Gibbs couldn't help smirking at the scene. Eddie wasn't the only one shocked by what had happened. Tony and Ziva never really thought that their young teammate was capable of the patented Gibbs stare down, but boy were they wrong. He had seen it from the beginning Tim was starting to see Livie as a daughter and had that budding relationship torn away from him. The young man was hurt badly and wanted pay back. He hoped that this would be enough. Walking out of observation Gibbs caught up with Tim.

"Hey, Tim, good job in there," he smirked.

"Thanks Boss," Tim smiled, puffing up a bit at the praise, "Boss, I'm fine it's over."

"Good, now go make up with your father. He'll be glad to hear from you," Gibbs said softly.

Tim had told him about the fight after playing with Jethro. Not wanting his youngest to lose contact with his family, Gibbs played peacemaker first with Colleen and Sarah and then between the young man and Tom. When Tim tried to play the victim, he got head slapped. The older man made him see that his father cared for him and had been hurt by the DNR as was everyone else. Tim had clattered away for hours on his typewriter trying to find the right words even taking the final draft to Gibbs for approval. Trying not to laugh at the expression on Tim's face, Gibbs looked it over and gave his approval. When his father had written back saying all was forgotten the relief was radiating off him, but still the kid needed to hear it. The doubt had crept its way in, so Gibbs managed to pull a few strings and get a satellite conference. One that Tim was heading to now.

"Hey, Dad," Tim whispered.

"Hi, Tim. I got your letter," Tom said as he began to take stock of his son's appearance. Colleen had warned him about how much weight he had lost, but it didn't sink in until he saw him.

"And I got yours. I know what you wrote, but I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you so bad," he pleaded.

"Tim, look at me. I accept your apology and I'm sorry as well. Instead of taking the time to listen to you, I jumped right into the fight. How was the funeral?"

"It was nice Dad. We caught the kids who put the virus into the computers. I just came from interrogation. Fourteen dead and so many others with problems 'cus a couple of kids decided they had nothing better to do."

"Your mother said that your meds were far too high. Can you have…?" Tom stopped not knowing how to ask the question.

"No, I can't have kids. I'm sorry that I can't give you grand kids, Dad." Tim's whisper was barely audible through the mike.

"Tim, don't be, this is not your fault," Tom said, pained by what his child was forced to endure.

"Are you ok with this?"

"I'm getting there. Gibbs and Tony have been a big help," was the reply.

"Good, I love you son, never forget that."

"I love you too, Dad."

The bridge was more quiet than usual; there had been rumors as to why the XO was able get a video conference approved. There had been some resentment to go along with the scuttlebutt he had in a foul mood had taken it out on people. Looking at the young man pleading for his father's forgiveness, the sailors realized that he was very sick. The thinness and shaved head told people what the sickness was, and if people noticed that he was misty eyed they kept it too themselves. Tim rubbed moisture from his own eyes and headed back down to his desk, to see if he could put a dent in some of the paperwork that Team Gibbs always seemed to ignore until the last possible minute.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**I don't own NCIS. To bad though I wouldn't be as broke as I am with this whole starving student thing. Hey maybe they should sue then I can pass on the loans. Well I'm almost done this story one more chapter plus an epilog to go. I have every thing written out just need to get them on my computer. I deiced to keep it light for this chapter and the reaming ones. I hope you enjoy.**

Scratching Jethro's ear, Tim looked like he wanted to ask his friends something, but didn't know how to start. It was Friday and the team had ended up at Gibbs' house for supper, needing the time to relax after the drama of the past week. They were sprawled out over every chair and couch they could fill, the beer and steaks making them drowsy.

"Alright, McGee, what do ya want?" Gibbs asked, laughing at the deer in the headlights expression.

"Um well… I…" Tim tried.

"Well this got to be good, the probster doesn't stutter like this unless he has a dozy coming," Tony chuckled.

"Tony, be nice," Ziva, scolded, "Please continue Tim."

"My appointment with Dr. Sommers is on Tuesday, and could you guys come with me? I don't want to go alone," Tim blurted out.

"We already have the time booked off, McGee," Abby smirked, "Did you really think that you could keep us from finding out?"

"Apparently not," he grumbled good-naturedly. "Thanks guys, it means a lot to me.

"No problem Tim," Gibbs replied, still smirking.

"So, Tony, when we get to meet the new girlfriend?" Abby smirked.

"What makes you think that I have a girlfriend?" Tony asked nervously. Tim was the only one that knew and he hardly could keep the knowledge from him given the current situation.

"Well, the phone calls for one and the sneaking around; wait are you undercover again?" Ziva asked worried.

"No, I'm not, Zee, it's still new and I don't want to screw it up," Tony told her.

"You won't Tony, I've seen the way you look at her and it's real," Tim smiled.

"You told McGee, but not me?" Abby pouted.

"Tony asked me to respect his privacy and I am," Tim informed her unwilling to risk the new closeness he had with Tony.

She harrumphed and stalked off to the kitchen say she was thirsty. Tim tried not to be hurt by her actions but couldn't help feeling a little put out. He was tired of being the one to make up seeing as how he had already apologized to her. Besides, Tony was keeping his secret for him and Tim was proud of Tony's interaction with his girlfriend. There was a maturity that was not there even with Jeanne it shows up at work as well. The playboy attitude was gone and so were the annoying digs and juvenile behavior. Tim knew his partners' reports were getting better, more concise and clear, as well seeing as how they got sent back to him for revisions far less than before.

After Tony found out who Tim was seeing on the sly, he had fun teasing his probie, but ran interference not only with big bad older brother but Abby as well. Things had been strained a bit after the hospital fight and the pair seemed to be slowly drifting apart and though it hurt the older man to see he was glad for his friend. When Tony thought about it he realized just how much Tim had been forced to revolve around Abby and was glad that he was breaking the pattern. He always thought that they would get back together and have freaky smart Goth geek babies until he found out just how much Abby had hurt the man. Looking at her, he couldn't help recalling the conversation.

**OoOoOoOo**

"Hey probie what's up?" Tony asked walking into the hospital room smirking as Tim looked incredibly guilty over a phone call.

"Uh just talking to a friend Tony," he replied hoping that would be the end of it as Tony commandeered a chair in the room.

"I saw that look, who were you talking too? You were all lovey-dovey like you have a new girlfriend or something." When Tim blushed faintly the other man's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Ooh, do tell I must know what posed you to break rule twelve. Abby's the favorite and you're sick, but still it's a risk don't ya think?"

"What makes you so sure that it's Abby?" he snapped, annoyed at his friend. The annoyance turned to panic as he realized what he had said.

"Whoa there probie I was just asking. Who else could it be, you and the Abster are meant for each other," Tony couldn't figure out the look of sadness that passed across his friends face.

"It's not Abby," was the sad reply. Momentarily unsure if he could trust Tony he decided to tell his best friend how they really broke up. "First I don't do second chances. If it didn't work out the first time it a safe bet thing won't work out the next time. That, and Abby cheated on me."

"McGee, don't you dare lie to me," Tony growled. Abby was a baby sister to him and he refused to listen to this crap.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you, nobody would believe me over her," the young man snarled back.

"Are you sure, Tim? I mean it's Abby," he tried again unable to process the information.

"Just before I made the move to here, she dragged me out clubbing to celebrate Gibbs taking me on and I saw her making out with another guy. She justified it by saying that we couldn't be together because of rule twelve and that was that," was the quiet reply.

"She's tried to get back with me a couple of times after that, but I wouldn't do it. I can't trust her with my heart anymore."

"She wouldn't do something like that," he replied in shock.

"The women put a dog above me Tony," The answer came back more bitter then he intended. "I love Jethro, but listening to her yell at me for defending myself hurt like hell. After that I don't think I trusted her as much with personal stuff, and now with the cancer I've done a lot of reevaluating and it's time to live my life."

"I'm so sorry buddy," he said the pain reflecting in his eyes. The pedestal that his baby sister was on had crumbled and the rubble left an ache in his chest.

"It's alright, I'm over it and I've got someone great in my life. I'm sorry for telling you Tony I know she family, but…" he trailed off not knowing how to say what he wanted too.

"But you need to be family too," The look in Tim's eyes told him he got it in one. "Believe me, you are Tim. I never had much in the way of family until you guys came along, so sometimes it takes me awhile to get it right but I do." Looking at his Tony smiled with mischief. "You still haven't told me who she is probie. Come on, you can tell me. Please?"

In retaliation, Tim whumped him with a pillow but with a little, ok a lot, of prodding the new girlfriend was revealed.

**OoOoOoOo**

After thinking for a moment, Tony got up and went over to Abby and whispered, "You give him a break or Gibbs finds out how you really broke up with Tim."

Shaken that someone else knew what she had done, Abby went back to the group and tried to play nice with Tim.

Tuesday morning saw Gibbs picking Tim up from his apartment much to the younger man's surprise. He knew better then to argue when his boss had that particular look on his face, and climbed into the passengers' seat. Looking at his agent, Gibbs tried to think of away to ask what about Friday. Things had been strained after whatever Tony had said to her.

"Abby hurt me after the blow-up in the hospital, and when she apologizes for her behavior I will accept it. I gave her mine so everything's up to Abby now," Tim told him.

"How about I talk to her?" Gibbs replied mentally cursing how perceptive his youngest agent truly was.

"No, Boss, I want it to be real. It won't be if you just order her to say sorry," Tim whispered.

"I understand," he replied patting Tim's leg.

"You do? You're not mad?" was the surprised reply.

"I love Abs, but I know what she's like, and I'm proud that you're standing up for yourself. Now how about telling me who the new girl of yours is?"

"You'll like her Boss. She smart and funny and …"

Gibbs smiled as he listened to the young man prattle on about his lady enjoying the young man's untainted give it all approach to love, though after awhile it had occurred to him a name hadn't been passed on. When ask he got quiet, so Gibbs pushed and was shocked at the answer. No wonder the kid had been so secretive he was liable to get shot.

Pulling into the hospital parking lot Gibbs turned to his young agent. "It'll be alright, I'll help run interference."

"Thanks Boss," Tim chirped with a bright smile before getting out of the car.

Meeting up with everyone else Tim smiled apprehensively and led the way to the small waiting area in Dr. Sommers office. When the nurse called his name they all trouped into the office. Looking at the crowd, Dr. Sommers chuckled slightly, "looks like you brought half the agency with you, Tim."

"Well, Doc, how was the blood work?" he asked encouraged by the smile and joking.

"Alright, let's see," was the reply as he slowly opened the file. The man wasn't able to resist a dramatic pause before saying, "Congratulations, Tim, the results of your last blood test was negative. You're officially in remission. The anemia is still present so people will still have to be gentle, but now that your body is not fighting its self I'm confident that it too will go into remission."

There was a moment of silence before his friends and family erupted into shouts of joy. Sarah and Ziva wrapped themselves around Tim's neck while his mother placed a kiss on the top of his head, causing the young man to blush furiously.

Tony was next wrapping his arms around the man. "Glad that you're still going to be around, probie."

"Thanks, Tony, for everything," Tim whispered as he stood up to hug his friend better.

Gibbs just stood there for once he didn't know what to say or do. He came far too close to losing one of his boys these passed months and there had been nothing he could do about it. Watching Tim's body try and destroy itself was more painful then he could ever admit even to himself. He pulled through though and watching the team celebrate brought a mist to his eyes. Looking at his boss, Tim knew what the older man needed. He couldn't ask for it but the solution was simple, so Tim walked over and embraced Gibbs.

"Thanks for getting me through this, Dad," he whispered into the man's ear.

"You're welcome, Son," he whispered back returning the embrace. After a few moments of reveling in the contact he pulled back and looked at the assembled group, "come on, lets grab lunch."

After making an appointment to be back in six months for more blood tests, Tim looked at the waiting team and smiled his family was going to be alright. Lunch was a loud affair, with everyone in such good spirits. They laughed and joked and tried to extend the time they had together, even convincing Gibbs to have dessert. When the team walked into the bullpen there was a collective breath held before Tim made the statement that everyone wanted to hear that he was in remission. The cheers and applause were and loud even the Director joined in. When the cheering subsided Jenny made her announcement, the timing just couldn't have been better. NCIS would be hosting an interagency charity ball, and the half the proceeds would go to the cancer ward and half would be put into a trust to help patients. After her announcement she made her way to Tim.

"Congratulations Agent McGee, I'm glad to hear that you are in remission," she smiled. "How long before you're considered cured?"

"Thank you Director, and I'll never be considered cured. With this cancer rarity and tendency to come back people who get it will always be considered in remission," he explained. "I'm alright with that."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied a little sadly, "but I won't let you go any were. Just one more thing Agent McGee I don't expect to see a check with your name on it, your treatment is expensive enough, and Jethro you are expected to be there."

Every one chuckled when Gibbs huffed his agreement. He had to keep up appearances, but he honestly want to be there, and he was impressed that Jenny had read McGee so well. His probie was learning. The rest of the day went by quickly and when it was time to go the team decided to the bar in a low key celebration. Even now that chemo was over it would take awhile for Tim's strength to return. As everyone trouped out of the building chattering like magpies Tim felt better than he had in awhile. He survived and now it was time to live.

When he had told Sofia about the ball she was excited. There was one problem, she wanted her to meet her older brother first. No doubt he would be at the event but she wanted tell him before that. His protests of being shot dead fell on deaf ears she was just too excited to see the impending bodily harm coming. Gibbs and Tony were of little help. Oh they sympathized with his plight but drew the line at being used as human shields.

Sitting nervously Tim mauled a piece of bread as he waited for the rest of the table to come. He had picked Sof up from her apartment and was now waiting for her brother to arrive. Looking up at what she saw he gulped it was show time.

"Toby, I would like you to met my boyfriend Tim," Sofia smiled as she stood for a hug.

"How are you feeling?" he asked gently embracing her.

"A lot better. Tim's told me you two met at work," she replied.

"That we have. So how long have you been banging my sister Agent McGee?" was the menacing reply.

"Tobias," Sofia gasped shocked at her brothers lack of manners.

"Sofia and I met several months ago and have been dating ever since Agent Fornell. As for any extracurricular activities, they have been curtailed by chemo," was the sour reply.

"Yes well… Nice place you found here Agent McGee," he tried kicking himself for forgetting that the young man was going through the same thing as his sister.

"I found it just before I got sick, and please call me Tim," he offered.

"What do you recommend Tim? I've never been here before," she said trying to fill the awkward silence.

"The duck is excellent. If you want something lighter the linguine with sausage and garlic is good as well," Tim replied as he sat down.

"How did you too meet?" Fronell asked trying to make conversation.

"Just after I started treatment Livie, a mutual friend of ours, introduced us and we hit it off. We've been dating ever since."

"Livie? The little girl that I met a few months back?" he asked Sofia. When she nodded he asked how she was doing miss reading the look on the pairs faces.

"She passed," Tim told him bitterly before excusing himself to use the restroom. The little girls death was still too raw to think about. At his sister's death glare, Fornell went after him.

"Sorry, I didn't know… wait, is she the one this charity thing is named for?" Tobias asked.

"Yeah, we were going through chemo together and she loved coming to NCIS with me. She was one of the kids who passed from the computer virus messing with peoples meds."

"I wondered how NCIS got the case, it should have been Metro or FBI?"

"Not when an agent was one of the victims," Tim told the older man making him cringe.

"I'm really putting my foot in it aren't I? All right let's try this again I'm Tobias Fornell, Sofia's older brother, keep her happy and we get along. How's that?" he asked with his trademark smirk.

"Tim McGee and I won't ever hurt her. Shall we go before Sofie thinks we killed each other and you know what her tempers like," Tim smirked back.

Gesturing for Tim to lead the way, Tobias grinned at the comment. The kid did know his baby sister well. She was the sweetest person you would ever meet unless you ticked her off and boy would she lay into you. The rest of supper went well and everyone managed to enjoy themselves. The next day both Gibbs and Tony smirked at Tim when he came in relatively unscathed. They both pried for details which, Tim thought was endlessly amusing, but still he obliged them and gossiped for a few minutes on what it was like trying to appease the terror of the FBI for dating his baby sister before getting on with the days work.


	9. Chapter 8

_**Chapter Nine**_

_**I don't own NCIS. Took me long enough to get this chapter up eh? I hope you like it originally it was supposes to be the last chapter before the epilog but it got to long and I decided to slit it into two chapters. I hope you all enjoy.**_

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Tim looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his tuxedo and silver cufflinks. Stamped with the Navy's crest they had been given too his grandfather by his wife when he retired. They had been his pride before they were given to him when the man had passed and Tim was glad that he had a chance to wear them. The girls plus Tony had taken him out shopping and he enjoyed the outcome. With the weight loss, nothing fit properly and the team had kidnapped him out of Gibbs' house and forced him to get new cloths. His boss was too busy laughing at Tim's plight too be of any help. The three of them had swept in and out a matter of minutes and Tim still suspected that the older man had been in on it, but the results had been outstanding so he couldn't complain. His broad shoulders seem even broader against his slender waist and he had lost the baby faced look from the chemo and from grief. The upside was his hair was growing back though it was blonder then before and finer. He had been warned that might happen with the hair loss from chemo. One of the first stops made was to a tux place. The catcalls and leers when he showed the team his outfit had all but sent the shy agent running back into the change room mortified by their behavior, but he ended up buying it anyway. His friends had then surprised him by helping with the bill.

After grabbing the flowers he bought for Sophie, he headed for the Porsche. It was early but it was a bit of a drive to her house and he want to surprise her with his plans for the weekend. He booked a little getaway just for the two of them starting tomorrow. He still wasn't cleared for anything but light duty and wanted to spend as much time with her as possible before he went back to work full time. He would start that process when he got back. She squealed in delight when he told her then rolled her eyes when she learned that Tobias had been involved in the planning of the trip. The pair had become thick as thieves once the initial awkwardness evaporated and Emily adored him. Sophia suspected that the little girl was already planning their wedding not that she was far off on that count seeing as how serious they were getting. When she went into her bedroom to get changed Tim sat down expecting a long wait but much to his surprise she came out only in a few minutes, having already done her hair and make up, wearing in his opinion the most beautiful dress ever. The royal blue accented her light blue eyes, the mermaid cut hugged her slender frame in all the right places and the neck line gave just a hint of what lay beneath. In short he was stunned. Giggling she closed his mouth for him before offering her arm so she could be escorted to the car.

"Wow your director when all out didn't she," Sophie gasped as they entered the ballroom.

"Director Sheppard wanted every thing to be just right. We've got all the ARMFED agency's here plus about a dozen more who aren't on that list. The team's over in the far corner are you ready to meet them?"

"Sure Tim I'd love to," she replied shyly. He had already gone through this with Tobias's team, but she was unable to meet his due to a case coming up that had them in the office until all hours of the night. Poor man had been so drained afterwards that he had had to take a few days off work. Apparently, his boss had been furious that he had driven himself to that point, and chewed him out. Strolling over Tim smiled at his team. "Hi Boss, Ziva. Sof this is Gibbs, and Ziva. Guys this is Sofia You look great by the way Ziva. Where're the others?"

"Thank you Tim," Ziva smiled. She had been looking at the dress for sometime before Jenny had made her buy it saying the deep orange suited her skin tones and judging by the looks that she was getting other people thought so to. "They are coming this way now, and it is a pleasure to meet you at last Sophia. I am glad that Tim has found someone that cares about him as much as you."

"Thank you Ziva. Tim talks about you and the rest of the team a lot," she replied glad that they seemed to be so accepting of her.

"How'd you two meet?" Gibbs asked enjoying the look of pure bliss coming from the young man. He hadn't been able to meet her before now but watching him in the days following finding out about his girlfriend Gibbs knew that she was good for him and that's why he had been so willing to give Tobias the run around.

"Livie introduced us. When Tim's first round of chemo started she dragged me down to meet him and we've been going out ever since," Sophia told them tenderly as the rest of the group arrived.

"Yeah that little girl really brought people together," Tony said as he and the others approached their friends. After squeezing Tim's shoulder in support he smiled bashfully trying to think of a way to introduce his girlfriend, both Gibbs and Ziva were looking at him with barely disguised looks of surprise on their faces. Tim smirked at his best friends' squirming a moment before saving the introductions.

"Hi Marnie, good to see you again," he covered. The surprise was reasonable she was not the usual Tony type girlfriend. She was very petite, barely coming up to his shoulder and was somewhat reserved.

"Have we met before," Ziva asked brow furrowed in confusion trying to place the woman's face.

"I just transferred to headquarters a few months ago. I work up stairs in INTEL," she offered.

"Yes now I remember," Ziva exclaimed. "You helped us with some analysis."

"Yes, that's how I meet Tony. Then when I heard that Tim was diagnosed cancer I wanted to offer my support. I have a sister who's struggling with her own battle so I know how hard it can watching those we love fight for their lives," she explained.

"I'm glad to finely meet the women who managed to make an honest man out of DiNozzo," Gibbs smiled enjoying the blush that was creeping its way across his senior agents face. He had known that the man had had a girlfriend long before the get together at his house, it had reflected in the mans life both in and outside of work. He wanted Tony to be comfortable enough to tell him on his own so he waited and it seemed to be paying off. He then put on his best scowl and turned to the man saying, "You treat that girl of yours right Tony hear me?"

"Yes Boss," he replied blushing even harder. The teasing was embarrassing but in a good way. It showed that Boss was not only accepting of Marnie but also happy for him and was not mad at being left out.

"I have to powder my nose, would you ladies care to join me?" Abby asked wanting a closer look at the two women. With that the four of them disappeared.

"Should I be worried?" Tony had too ask.

"Very," Tim told him with a scared look on his face.

"They'll be fine the girls just want to have a talk with them," Gibbs smirked.

"Yeah Boss that's what we're afraid of. The four of them talking about us," Tim replied causing Gibbs and Ducky to laugh at the pair.

"Probie's right it was bad enough with just Ziva and Abby knowing dirt on us, but now they're talking to the women in our lives. Now, they're knowing things about us and I don't want Marnie knowing things about me," Tony babbled trying to get his point across.

"Oh dear Anthony has it bad doesn't he Jethro? Jethro?" Ducky stopped in confusion and looked at his old friend growing worried at the mans odd reaction. The former marine was looking hard at his senior agent, who suddenly found his shoes very interesting.

"Anthony I'm proud of you," he said tipping the man's chin up so their eyes meet. "You've grown in incredible ways, and I'm glad to have watched it. Marnie is a beautiful young woman that I will be happy to have as a daughter-in-law when the time comes."

"Do you really think she'd say yes Boss?" Tony pleaded glad that his surrogate father could read him so easily.

"I don't think DiNozzo I know," he smiled. "Just wished I'd known sooner."

"Wanted to make sure I wasn't going to screw things up," Tony mumbled.

"Not with Marnie," Tim assured him. "You've been in love with her from the moment you two met. It's just taken you this long to figure that out bonehead."

"Hey I've covered for you," Tony protested before blowing a raspberry at his friend.

"That's not nice Tony," Colleen McGee laughed as she walked up to the group of men.

"Ya Tony not nice," Tim smirked before giving her a hug hello.

"Well I'm quite sure that what ever you said to Tony was not all that polite either Tim," Tom smirked as he joined the group.

"Dad you're here," Tim exclaimed embracing his father.

"Not for long the Seahawk is going out soon," was the reply.

"Why the Seahawk? She has an XO," Tim asked confused. In fact they were good friends.

"That's true, but I'm not going as her XO, but as the Seahawk's captain," he smiled.

"That's great dad," Tim replied before enveloping his father in anther embrace.

When the women came back Tim gave Ziva a questioning look, Abby was subdued and he wanted to know why. Both Sophia and Marnie looked a little put out them selves. Ziva just gave a slight head shake before asking Ducky to dance. That seemed to be the signal because all of sudden both he and Tony some how ended up on the dance floor themselves with their respective girlfriends. His dad quickly caved into the look on his mother's face and they too were on the dance floor. Tim stifled a laugh as he watched Director Sheppard flirt with Gibbs until he led her to the floor as well. The two were meant to be together even if they hadn't figured it out yet.

Looking back at Sophia Tim though he knew what it felt like to drown, he was so lost in her eyes. All else faded from his view and the only thing he could hear over the pounding of his heart beat was the faint strains of the waltz that sent them fleeting over the dance floor. When the music faded all together reality seemed to snap back into place reminding them that they weren't alone. As applause rang out in enjoyment of their performance Tim leaned down and whispered I love you into her ear. The I love you too felt like it resonated in his whole being and one look at Sophia's face told him that she felt the same.

After a few minutes Tobias swept his sister away for a dance. Unsure of what too do with himself Tim's eyes scanned the room. Tony and Marnie were dancing again. Ziva had claimed Jimmy as a partner and he was proving to be a really good dancer. Who knew? Jenny was dancing with Ducky and Gibbs was talking to someone. Everyone was lost to their own little world, so Tim wandered around having a word or two with people he knew from work or the hospital. Yet he still felt restless and even if his mind wouldn't allow the reason to come forth his heart knew why. That's how he found himself standing beside Abby as she stared out the window.

"Hey Abs."

"Don't you hey me mister I'm mad at you."

"For what?"

"You know what and I expect you to fix it."

"Ah dating Sophie. You won't like how I fix it Abby."

"Well why not?"

"I'm going to ask to her marry me on the weekend. You can either accept that or not, but it's still going to happen."

"You're not allowed to love anyone but me," Abby snapped.

"Doesn't work like that," Tim replied before kissing her on the cheek and walked away.

Gibbs gave him an odd look when he found out that Abby had left right after the talk he had had with her. Forcing himself to ignore it Tim swept Sofia away for another dance. Latter that evening Director Sheppard announced that the money raised exceed 1.5 million dollars. When the applauses finished she called up Livies parents and Tim to accept the check. Exhausted Tim slipped out a side exist too a small foyer he had noticed earlier and sat down in one of the over stuffed leather chairs he still wasn't totally back to normal and it showed. Absently stroking the leather he decided that he needed on for his writing. His musing was broken by Gibbs sitting down in the chair beside him.

"I'm still starting my qual's Boss," Tim told the man.

"You don't have to rush Tim your body needs time to recover from what it went through. Nobody expects you to be a hundred percent right away," Gibbs replied.

"With the rumors? I have to prove them wrong that I deserve to be on your team," he got out in a rush.

"Oh Tim that's why you're rushing? Some idiot who'll never make field agent? You'll always be on my team, you're mine remember?"

"I know Boss it's just that I'm not as strong as Tony or Ziva and…"

"Bullshit you're not," Gibbs interrupted. "You are just as strong as they are."

"But I still get tired easy and I've lost any muscle tone I gained at the gym," Tim argued.

"How much time did Tony spend sleeping on Abby's futon after the plague?"

"A lot I guess," he answered trying not to flinch at the Goths name.

"Hell," he cussed which did cause the young man to flinch away from him. "No Tim this isn't your fault you go and ask that girl to marry you and come Monday you'll start your qual's just don't expect me to use you in the field till I know you're not going to pass out on me. Got that?"

"Yeah got that Boss," Tim smiled back wondering how the man had known about the weekend and that he had been planning on asking Sofie to marry him. "And I'll make up with Abby."

"No you won't," he was informed.

"Boss?"

"She will apologize for her behavior and make it up to you not the other way around, and don't worry I'll make sure Abby doesn't give you a hard time. You deserve better then what you have gotten in the past Tim."

"Thanks for everything I don't know if I would have been able to get through this without you dad," Tim whispered in the older mans ear.

"Your welcome son," he whispered back. It was a few minuets before either one of them was composed enough to head back inside. When they did Tim swept Sofie away for another dance and Gibbs went to the bar for a bourbon.

"Everything alright with Tim Jethro," Fornell asked.

"Yeah it is Tobias," he replied. Gibbs smirked a little it was strange hearing his friend call his youngest agent by his first name let alone be concerned about the man.

"Good he's a great kid and is even an alright guy for my sister to be with. I don't want to see either of them hurt."

"You won't I'll make sure off it," Gibbs told him knowing that an alright guy meant that no one but Tim was good enough for her.

"Good," was the simple reply.

The two friends talked the rest of the night laughing at their teams' antics and occasionally braking up DiNozzo and Sacks. People once and awhile looked over at the two and wondered how they got on so well with each other, it was only a hand full of people who know that they weren't talking about their respective teams but their children.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Ten**

**Nope still don't own NCIS. There is just the epilog left and then this story is done. Yay. Is anyone interested in a wedding fic for Tim or Tony or both if so let me know.**

The drive out of the city was beautiful. It was mid-March and there was warmth to the air that felt good. They had gotten on the road later then Tim had intended but the extra sleep had been needed. With the anemia finely under control, he had been allowed to have to have some wine the other night at the Ball. Problem was he hadn't had anything to drink in months and the two glasses he had went straight to his head, adding in the late night he slept in. It was a good thing that the Bread and Breakfast was close. Sophie had spent a good deal of time laughing at him as they packed everything into the car between the yawning and chattering about Jethro she was entertained. He just couldn't help it, that fact that he was well enough to claim his dog on Monday was exciting and as for the yawning well he was tired from the partying.

"Close your eyes Sof," Tim told her just before they turned onto the road to the B and B.

"Closed," she replied smiling at the playfulness, he was showing.

"No peeking," he chirped as they drove up to the building.

"How much longer Tim?"

"Almost there. One more minute… Ah here we are. Well what do you think?"

"Oh Tim it gorgeous. How did you find it?" She gasped in delight.

"Well there's this funny little thing called the internet not sure if you've heard of if it, but the thing's great for finding stuff," he smirked.

"Tim you're such a brat," Sophie giggled swatting his arm playfully.

"And you love me for it, here let me," he shot back before grabbing the suitcases.

Laughing Sophia skipped up the walkway and made it to the porch before the door opened, apparently, they were expected. Tim managed to fumble his way too the porch so he could make the introductions. The old man who introduced himself as Roger smiled at the young couple before showing them to their room. He tried to take the bags from Tim, but the younger man couldn't bring himself to allow their host to take them. When the door was shut Sophia laughed at him saying he was an over grown Boy Scout. He retaliated by blowing a raspberry out at her.

After they were settled, the pair went for a walk in the grounds enjoying the day. Looking at the snow that was still lingering on the ground Tim couldn't resist the thought that popped into his head. Scooping up a hand full, he threw it at his girlfriend, laughing at the squeal he danced away from her. Retaliating she threw a snowball of her own, soon it was war the two of them tossing snow at each other as the elderly couple looked on from the kitchen window in amusement. Trudging back inside they continued to laugh and play up to their room. After changing out of their wet cloths the pair went down for supper, the start had been late enough that they had to grab lunch while driving. Looking around Sophia couldn't help wondering about the barely suppressed glee that Roger and his wife had as they served the meal. Tim was planning something and she couldn't quite figure out what it was. The meal was a simple affair, but was elegant in it's own way. Tim had insisted that they both put on something nice and with the candlelight and well-cooked meal it fit.

"Sof I'm not sure if I can put into words how much theses past few months have meant too me. I don't know how I could have gotten through Livvie's death without you or anything else for that matter. I love you so much it hurts," Tim smiled shyly.

"Oh Tim I love you too," she replied giggling at the mans sudden bashfulness.

"Wait there's more," he whispered nervously before slipping out of his chair and on too one knee. "Sophia Fornell will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, yes," she sobbed before allowing him to place the ring on her finger. Sliding out of the chair she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck

"Sofia what's wrong?"

"It's just I never thought that someone would want to marry me."

"How could I not want to marry you? You're beautiful smart funny and I can't see myself with out you."

"You know that this is my second bout with cancer, well the first time around three years ago I was dating someone when I was first diagnosed with it and he left saying he couldn't deal with it."

"Tobias told me about it when I first approached him with this weekend. He threatened to shoot me multiple times if I hurt you while we were planning this. Hey, I'm going to do the same thing to the guy who thinks he can marry my baby sister," he said smirking at the peeved look on her face. "It's what us big brothers do, so don't be yelling at him when we get back. What I'm saying is I love you and you did say yes so you're officially stuck with me. As for Abby at one time it would have mattered to me that she's pouting but I out grew the game we played, and found someone better. She's a little sister to me but nothing more."

"When did you get so smart Tim?" She asked drying her eyes wondering how he could read her so well.

"Well didn't Tony tell you I am a McGenius?" Tim asked hoping to listen the mood.

"Brat," Sophia laughed before admiring the ring on her finger.

Helping each other off the floor, Sophie gleefully showed off her engagement ring to Roger and Sally as they came in to offer their congratulations and dessert.

The rest of the weekend was a blur to Tim. He couldn't began to explain how deliriously happy he was with life. The two days were spent roaming the grounds and the nights well those were left to other things. When they got back Tobias was there to greet them, he threatened to shoot Tim one more time all the while smiling at his sisters bright smile. It had been too long since she was this happy and he was glad that she found someone to love her the way she deserved, but it was just too fun tormenting the kid to stop.

"Hey probie were you going?" Tony asked as he watched his friend shut down his computer.

"I have my medical too day, remember?" Tim reminded him.

"Oh yeah. It sucks that you have too requal on everything not just your firearm," he replied.

"Yeah it does, but you had too do it as well after you got the plague remember? Besides, it allows me to ignore wedding questions. We've been engaged two days and are already making plans," Tim told him with a smirk.

"I'm here for you buddy. Like you said I've been there," Tony said seriously. Tim's illness had brought them closer in more was then one. He knew what it was like to face a life threatening illness, what it was like to wonder if you weren't going to make it, what it was like to make it and have too recover from it. "Oh and congrat's agien I'm glad for the two of you."

"Thanks Tony," Tim smiled before heading out the door.

After the medical was done, Tim excitedly headed out to Gibbs's house. He had booked the exam for the afternoon so it would coincide with getting off work. He had passed with flying colors, but that was just icing on the cake compared to getting Jethro back. With his boss watching with barely contained laughter Tim launched himself at the dog playing and wrestling with him in a way he couldn't just a few months ago. After supper with the dog under foot, Tim packed up all of Jethro's thing and with a huge smile on his face took the German Sheppard home.

Gibbs couldn't help smiling at the pair Tim had been devastated when he couldn't take care of his pooch anymore. Even leaving him here had been hard, but what had made matters worse was that Jethro missed him too. He would howl in misery when Tim left and never seemed to eat properly unless his human was around. Gibbs would miss having a dog around and was seriously considering getting one of his own, but it was clear that McMutt had claimed Tim as his person and no one else.

The next day was the firearm quals in the morning and the fitness exam in the afternoon. He passed his firearms test with flying colors. There was no doubt of that his boss had been a Marine Sniper after all. It was the running component of the fitness test that had Tim worried. He had lost a lot of the muscle tone and stamina that several years on the team had given him and was worried that even with all the training he wouldn't pass. It felt like he was jumping through the hoops for FLETAC all over again.

Gradually slowing down Tim was a bit suspired at how easy the run had been. All the running he had done with Gibbs and Jethro apparently paid off. It has become an almost daily thing when he went over to his Bosses house to spend time with McMutt. With Dr. Sommer's approval, they had started running almost six weeks ago. Aware that his patient would try to push himself he had a chat with Gibbs about what his capabilities. No matter how much Tim had pouted the first day Gibbs insisted on the limits that Dr. Sommers had imposed and afterwards he reluctantly agreed that he needed to stick to the running schedule.

Tim was still embarrassed that he would still fall asleep on his Boss's couch after. However, it been comforting to wake up tucked in with Jethro on his feet. Big gestures were rare with his boss. It was little things like knowing your coffee of choice that he used to show his people he cared.

Seeing the smile on his examiners face Tim knew he had passed. He let out a whoop before shaking the mans hand. All that was left was have the run time filed and he would be back in the field. The shower took longer then he had intended, while he did pass it took a lot more out of him then he was willing to admit. Like Boss said it would take time.

Stepping out of the open elevator doors, he jumped as people yelled congratulations at him. The news that he passed the last of his quals had spread fast. His team was there along with his mom, sister, fiancée and the rest of the office to show how glad they were to finally have him back full time. Seeing the tiredness behind the bright smile Gibbs gently lead him to the nearest chair, people patting his back and offering their personal congratulations along the way.

"Thank you," Tim managed to get out. "I couldn't have done this without any of you."

Most of the people would not realize how true it was but he wouldn't have pulled through with out the supported of his friends and family. After work the team and the rest of his family found their way to Gibbs house for a small celebration.

Tim smiled glad it was finally the weekend he was getting stronger every day and was grateful, but he wasn't totally up to par yet, and there was one last thing he needed to do. Now that his anemia was in remission along with the cancer, Dr. Sommers had given him the ok to honor Livvie in his own way. Therefore, he dragged himself away from the computer and out the door. No one could quite understand the odd little smile he got when the subject of his tattoo came up. He had been planning on getting it long before Abby and the only thing that the conversation with Tony had done was change the placement of it. He did web design on the side and a friend of his had just opened up her own tattoo parlor and wanted a webpage. The tat had been part of payment for services rendered.

Greeting the artist like the old friend that she was Tim looked at the picture and nodded before taking off his shirt. Smiling he sat down in the chair this was the first of two sessions. Tonight the outline would be done and when that healed, he would have it colored in. Mac had done a great job on what he wanted. It was of a rose and a sunflower with the stems entwined, his, and Livvie's names in script inside the stems.


	11. Epilog

**Epilog**

**Here a big shout out to finlura for betaing this chapter for me. Before I get all the what the heck's? I would like to remind you all of the prolog and that Tim is telling the Marine the story on a rooftop. It been a long time in coming, but here for your approval is the last chapter of The Rose and the Sunflower.**

Looking at the man Tim offered his hand, "This isn't the end of the end of the world. Don't throw away everything you've worked for as a Marine for something you can beat."

"Ten years?" was the timid question.

"Yeah ten years and they haven't all been easy ones, but I'm still around to piss off my team. What about you, John, are you willing take this like a Marine or are you going to take the easy way out and hurt the people who care about you?" Tim asked the other man reaching out his hand to take. Everyone held their collective breath as they watched the young man deciding his fate.

"Marine," was the simple reply. Grasping the offered had he allowed himself to be lead to the safety of the rooftop amid cheering personnel.

"Hoo-ah," Tim answered. Looking around he was glad that they were back where it was a lot safer, and that the young man for some reason had chosen a spot to jump were it was next to impossible to be filmed by a camera crew on the ground. He had been spotted by someone in the adjacent building. There was still fear in his eyes, but also a willingness to fight had showed up as well in his whole demeanor.

Watching the Marine being lead away by a medic Tim could feel his teams eyes on him wanting to know more, heading for the car he didn't give them a chance to ask anything. When they had piled into the sedan he made the decision to make for a little restaurant in the area.

"Umm, the Yard is in the other direction Boss," Steven his senior agent reminded him.

"We missed lunch and I'm hungry got a problem with that?" he mock growled.

"No Boss, of course not," was the reply. Everyone laughed when the man's stomach growled in agreement.

"You had cancer Boss?" Tara the youngest on his team asked timidly.

"Yeah I'm in remission though," he replied impressed that she had the courage to ask the question.

"Has it come back?" Joan asked wanting to get her own question in before Boss had enough of them.

"Twice, but nether time was bad as the first go around," he responded quietly enjoying their unusual boldness.

"When are we going to meet your girl Boss?" Steven tried again.

"She passed six years go," he snapped and instantly regretted it.

"Oh," the younger man cringed, and was silent the rest of the drive.

The place was a homey mom and pop joint that he had been coming to for years having been introduced to it by Tony. Pretending to look at the menu he secretly watched his SA, the man had a kicked puppy air about him and Tim was pissed at himself for causing it. His girls were talking quietly to each other clearly wanting to ask more questions but afraid of the reaction. When the old women who helped run the place came up for their orders he let everyone else order first.

"It's good to see you again Grace. I'll have the usually and put his on my tab," Tim told her nodding to the man across from him.

"Thanks Boss," he replied give him a mega watt smile knowing that this was his bosses way of saying sorry.

"We had two good years together before she passed. That's when I got into undercover work. Director Sheppard offered me the chance to go to Europe after it happened and I needed the change," Tim said answering the question before it was even asked.

The team took the reply to mean that they were allowed to ask questions again and started in on him enjoying the moment just as much as he was. When they ended back the Navy Yard he went up to see Jenny, and smirked when he found that she had already poured the brandy for him. She knew him too far too well. Three months after he had gone into remission she herself had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, watching him go through everything had given her the strength to take the experimental treatment that Ducky had offered. They had grown close as he supported her through the often painful treatment and that closeness had continued to this day.

"An unusual case for the techno-ghosts," she smiled as they settled down on the couch.

"True, but rewarding none the less," Tim replied chuckling at the nickname for his team,

"So where did you send the MCRT that they couldn't respond to this one?"

"Norfolk, a computer case, Tony and Ziva will be glad to see you are home, and not just for your computer expertise in this one. Have you ever regretted the path you've taken it's, so different from how it begin," she asked softly.

"Not once, Gibbs gave me the chance to grow when he got me out of the personal office at Norfolk and it was him that nudged me towards taking the position you had offered me."

"Really, Jethro let you go?" was the surprised question.

"Boss knew I was lost and needed to stop being reminded of Sophia so he head slapped me in the right direction and I've never regretted it Jenny. Well working a dog into an undercover op was an issue but other than that it was worth it," he chuckled.

"Yes Jethro did take some working, but you did figure it out and he was useful in that drug case you had," she laughed. "I'm sorry to hear that you lost him."

"Thank you, it was his time, if Jethro hadn't passed that night I would have taken him to a vet. It was hard to watch him go but harder to watch him suffer. The rest of the team was there and they helped a lot," he responded with a sad smile. The team loved the dog just as much as he did and had grieved with him at the loss.

"I'm keeping you here for a bit, you've been absent far too long, and your team was never meant to do long stints away. Will you come to the ball it's been a few years?" Jenny asked hopefully.

"I will. It has been far too long. Yes, I know I've been avoiding it, but I'm ready I think," he replied a little surprised himself at his answer.

They chatted awhile longer mostly gossip, before Tim headed out saying that he need to make sure his team didn't get themselves in to trouble again, Jenny's laughter followed him out. Leaning against the balcony railing he watched his team talking with their friends. He smiled a little at the nickname they had been given, techno-ghosts. The director had told it to him just before they had left for Spain six months ago, the techno was due to the gadgets they used and abused and the ghosts was due to them being an undercover team. Unlike the LA team his was a totally mobile team allowing them to go anywhere in the world on a moment's notice. Laughing he watched Tara beat her senior agent with a file for a comment that he had made. The man was better at stepping in it then Tony was. Tim couldn't help comparing her to his own first year. In the eight months that she was on the team the woman had held her own a lot better than he had.

Watching the MCRT walk through the elevator doors without Gibbs was still strange, Tim though as he walked down the stairs to meet his friends. He hadn't been home enough for it to really sink in yet. A gun shot to his bad knee had forced the man into retirement a year ago, giving the lead to DiNozzo. He was proud of his friend it was hard taking over for someone like Gibbs, but the Italian had found his place as team leader. It had been strange taking care of the older man in the weeks and months following the injury, but they both stood by him through it all and got him to the other side. When Gibbs had told them about his and Jenny's relationship they had both busted a gut laughing having figured it out from the start. It just meant letting one more person into their crazy family. His one regret was losing the closeness he had shared with Abby. They had patched thing up but the patch was a little frayed and it had turned into a working relationship only going out when the team was involved. After making plans for a late supper with his friends he told his team to head home. They needed to get something nice for charity ball coming. Ignoring Tony's pleases for computer help Tim headed out to his car. He needed to get sunflowers before he went to Livie's grave. It had been a long time since he had visited her and they had some catching up to do.


End file.
